Evanston police fatally shot a bank robbery suspect near the busy downtown interesection of Davis Street and Maple Avenue this afternoon.
The man, who police say had just held up the Chase Bank branch at Grove Street and Elmwood Avenue, was walking northbound on Maple Avenue near Bennison’s Bakery around 3 p.m. when he was confronted by several officers with their guns drawn.
Updated 4:35 p.m.: Police Cmdr. Jay Parrott says that, when confronted by the officers, the man displayed a handgun. After numerous officers on the scene told him to drop the weapon, Parrott says, the man pointed the weapon at the officers, several of whom then fired their weapons, striking the man.
The man was taken to Evanston Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Crime scene tape around Bennison’s Bakery after the shooting.
Parrott says that officers responding to the bank robbery call had received a description of the robber from a teller at the bank and that the man had last been seen going westbound on foot from the bank.
He says the man the officers confronted about a block away on Maple Avenue matched the description provided by the teller.
Parrott says police recovered a loaded 9mm handgun from the man and also recovered at the scene money taken from the bank.
A bank camera image of the Chase Bank robber from the FBI via BanditTracker.com.
Parrott says Maple Avenue from Grove to Davis streets will be closed for some time as police process evidence from the incident.
The Illinois State Police Public Integrity Unit will handle the officer involved shooting investigation along with the department’s Office of Professional Standards.
The man killed in Evanston today is also believed to be a suspect in the robbery of a TCF Bank branch at 4355 N. Sheridan in Chicago last Thursday.
Great Job EPD!
Job well done by the great Evanston PD! Makes me proud to live in this town and walk these streets protected by you, great men and women in the blue of EPD!
A man died.
I’m sure the police did what they were supposed to, but a man died. Seems ghoulish to be so chipper about it, not the ideal situation for anyone, even if the guy was a criminal and deranged.
shooting
Yes, someone died! DUH….. if you commit a crime…especially with a weapon, then expect NO sympathy, and no expectation that you yourself won’t get shot at by people who are trying to defend themselves, others and the law. Do you REALLY feel sorry for gun-toting criminals when they get shot??? They have no feelings about harming others……boo hoo!
Deserved what was coming to him
He was up to no good. Deserved what was coming to him. EPD was doing their job, caught the criminal and he resisted. Had he not been a criminal in the action he would not be dead. Simple! Not sure that I have it in me to mourn gun toting bank robbing criminals.
He was given a chance to surrender
A man, who was given a chance to surrender, but did not, died. Do I wish him dead? Nope. Nor am I rejoicing. But, he did have a gun and could have hurt someone with it. I’d rather him than an innocent.
talking past each other again – I think
I think AE is right — there is no reason to feel chipper about this. The shooting officers will have to live with it for the rest of their lives and whatever you think of the bank robber, they also will suffer. Killing people is not easy and we would not want police who think it is.
AE might be saying (and I for sure am saying) wouldn’t it be nice to imagine a world where this robber did not feel the need or desire to risk his life and the lives of others for $3,000.
No, I don’t know what that looks like or how you get there from here, but as much as we celebrate the difficult work of the police, this is a moment to try to imagine that world. For the robber’s mother, for the robber, for the police, for the patrons and worker and Bennison’s who have to deal with the trauma of watching that. That’s all.
And let us not forget the
And let us not forget the firefighter/paramedics called in to clean up a bad situation and try to save lives, regardless of that person’s deeds or history. They, too, will have images permanently engraved in their memories.
And there but for the grace
And there but for the grace of god or the twists and turns of fate lies each and every one of us.
Sorrow for the loss but can’t ignore his violent choices
I regret that someone was killed. I know that his family and/or friends are grieving. We are all harmed when a life is lost, especially in such a public and violent way.
But we can’t ignore the obvious — he just robbed a bank, was walking on a public street with the weapon and would not drop it when told to do so by uniformed police officers.
He brought the violence to the bank — can you imagine how scared the people working there and banking there were during the robbery?
He maintained that threat of violence as he walked down the street with a gun. He continued that violence when he would not drop the gun as instructed by uniformed police officers — don’t those officers have the right to return to their loved ones and their lives at the end of their shift? They must feel twinges of fear when someone won’t drop a gun just feet away from them.
Robbing a bank — his choice. Using a gun in that robbery — his choice. Walking down the street armed — his choice. Choosing to keep the weapon rather than drop it — his choice. Each of these choices involved him relying on violence.
I regret that he felt that he had to make these choices. But they were his choices and they were based on violence.
I hate to sound unremorseful,
I hate to sound unremorseful, but an armed criminal who knows what they risk when six trained, uniformed police officers have guns pointed at them, and still doesn’t put their weapon down doesn’t really deserve mourning from the general public. I know his family and friends will be grieving, and they have every reason to, but the public has no reason to feel like this man was unjustly killed. He wasn’t shot more than necessary and he was holding a loaded firearm that he was pointing at the police despite orders to drop it. Who wouldn’t be scared to death by a loaded handgun pointed at them? His choices got him killed, end of story.
Fully agree…”His choices got him killed”
We uphold the Constitution to maintain our individual freedoms and personal rights.
With those freedoms and rights also comes personal responsibility for your actions.
Our society has been moving towards a “heads i win, tails you lose” mentality.
It doesn’t work that way.
You make choices, you bear the responsibility, GOOD or BAD for those choices.