A welfare check in Highwood ended in deadly gunfire Thursday afternoon after police say a man pointed what turned out to be a replica handgun at officers inside a Morgan Place home.
According to Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli, speaking to CBS Chicago, officers were called to the 200 block of Morgan Place at about 4:45 p.m. Family members had asked police to check on a man they said was highly intoxicated, had threatened suicide, and was inside the home with his ex-girlfriend. Relatives reported he had locked himself in a bedroom.
Covelli said officers spent several minutes trying to convince the man to come out so paramedics could evaluate him. During that standoff, the man allegedly told officers he was armed. He then came out of a bathroom and pointed a handgun at them, according to Covelli, and one officer opened fire. The man was taken to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. An officer was transported for evaluation, and a preliminary review found the gun recovered at the scene appeared to be a replica. The Lake County Coroner’s Office has scheduled an autopsy, as reported by CBS Chicago.
Major Crime Task Force Is Leading The Probe
The Lake County Major Crime Task Force, a multi-agency unit that responds to homicides, suspicious deaths, and officer-involved shootings, is handling the investigation, according to the Lake County Major Crime Task Force. The unit pulls investigators and evidence technicians from departments across the North Shore, then conducts independent follow-up work before turning cases over to prosecutors.
Crisis-response Questions
Calls involving suicidal or severely intoxicated people are among the riskiest situations first responders encounter, and departments around the country have been trying to get better at them. Many now lean on crisis-trained officers and non-police responses, from Crisis Intervention Teams to co-responder models and the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline, in an effort to avoid escalation. A report by the Congressional Research Service outlines those approaches and notes that results vary widely, depending on training, staffing and local resources.
For now, investigators with the task force and the coroner’s office continue to work the case. Officials say more information will be released after the autopsy is completed and the task force finishes its review.
