By WMBD TV
LEXINGTON – The Illinois State Police is in the midst of investigating an officer-involved shooting of an 18-year-old Arkansas man suspected in an earlier armed robbery.
According to state police, the agency’s Division of Internal Investigation has taken over the investigation, per state law. It wasn’t clear whether it was a state trooper who fired at the teen, Ryan Aeron Stanley Hurst, or another department.
When asked, the state police said in an email that the investigation was “ongoing.”
“In accordance with the Police and Community Relations Improvement Act (50 ILCS 727) and the Illinois State Police Law (20 ILCS 2605), special agents of the Illinois State Police Division of Internal Investigation are investigating this incident,” the state police said in a different statement.
According to the state police, the incident began just after 9:30 a.m. when officers were told that a vehicle that was believed to be linked to an armed robbery in Texas was driving on Interstate 74 in Champaign County.
Officers, the state police said, tracked the vehicle as it headed north in McLean County. Around 10:30 a.m., the vehicle stopped at a gas station in Lexington and one person, 19-year-old Joseph Martin Hernandez of Texas, exited the vehicle and entered the gas station.
Officers quickly arrived and tried to take Hernandez and Hurst into custody.
“Hurst pointed a gun in the direction of officers and officers fired shots striking Hurst,” the state police said in an statement. “Officers began providing first aid until Hurst was transported to the hospital, where he is currently listed in stable condition.
Hernandez, the state police said, was not injured and was taken into custody for further investigation.
Under state law, the Illinois State Police is to investigate officer-involved shootings to avoid a potential conflict of interest. Again, WMBD asked which agency was involved and if it was a state trooper, how the Illinois State Police could tackle the investigation?
The emailed repones was: “No investigator involved in the investigation may be employed by the law enforcement agency that employs the officer involved in the officer-involved death, unless the investigator is employed by the Illinois State Police and is not assigned to the same division or unit as the officer involved in the death.”
When investigators with the state police finish their investigation, the agents will turn over their findings to the McLean County State’s Attorney’s office which will decide it was a justified shooting.
No officers were injured.
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