BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- Prosecutors will not pursue charges against police involved in a fatal shooting March 13 in Bloomington in which an officer fired multiple shots at a man carrying a loaded handgun.
"There is no question, objectively looking at the situation, that the officer was justified (in shooting Stephen Bethea)," McLean County State's Attorney Jason Chambers said Tuesday after reviewing the results of an Illinois State Police investigation in the matter.
The Bloomington Police Department now will conduct an administrative review of the incident to make sure all departmental policies and procedures were followed, police spokesman Dave White said. Additionally, the review will attempt to identify any training or equipment needs, he said.
Police said an armed Bethea, 53, confronted officers when they arrived at his house at 8 Melrose Court shortly after 1 a.m. in response to a domestic dispute. He approached two officers, who repeatedly ordered him to drop the weapon, but he pointed it toward the officers.
"After officers gave commands to drop the weapon, they felt that they were about to be fired upon," White said in a statement issued Tuesday. "The officer that fired was in fear of his and another officer's safety and fired, striking Mr. Bethea, who later died of his injuries. At the time of this incident the weapon displayed by Mr. Bethea was found to have been loaded and ready to fire."
Chambers said it would be unfair to speculate as to why Bethea reacted to the police as he did. "I wasn't inside his head," he said.
The incident was investigated by Illinois State Police Zone 5 Investigations in Champaign, which forwarded its reports to Chambers.
"There's no real question as to how many shots were fired, and all the shots were accounted for," said state police Master Sgt. Mike Atkinson in an earlier interview with The Pantagraph.
Bethea, who was married with children, had worked as a pharmacist. He was charged March 7 with driving under the influence of alcohol, walking on a roadway while intoxicated and driving without insurance, after an afternoon traffic stop near his home. He was released after posting bond and his driver's license.
Copyright 2013 - The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
