The Illinois police officers who shot and killed a man wielding a chainsaw in a nursing home will not face charges, prosecutors announced this week.
Daniel H. Escalera was shot and killed inside a St. Charles, Ill., nursing home on Dec. 1 last year while wielding a chainsaw and asking for his wife, according to CBS News. The 41-year-old man was from Stockwell, Ind., about 176 miles away from the western Chicago suburb, and the outlet reports that officials still do not understand why he was at the Illinois nursing home.
“Officials examined body worn camera audio and video recordings, statements from witnesses to the events, physical evidence from the scene of the shooting, and the results of an autopsy,” the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office said in a press release this week.
“Based on that investigation, the State’s Attorney’s Office found no wrongdoing on the part of the officers and the review of the matter is now considered closed.”
A witness called 911 after Escalera entered the senior living home with a chainsaw. Body camera footage shows the first officer took out a taser when he encountered Escalera, wielding the chainsaw, as he entered a cafeteria with multiple elderly residents.
Escalera was “briefly knocked down” by the taser but got back up, grabbed the chainsaw, and ran at the officer who shot him with the device, the state attorney’s office says. The officer evaded the cafeteria, went back into the lobby to regroup with another officer, and they tried to confront Escalera again.
Escalera then “held the chainsaw over his head and charged toward the officer,” the state attorney’s office says. One of the officers then shot at Escalera twice, missing him both times. A third shot hit Escalera in the left arm as he fled the room.
“Once reaching the hallway, Escalera stopped to the immediate right of an elderly resident in a wheelchair, turned toward the officers, and held his hands forward in a position which appeared to imitate holding a firearm,” the state’s attorney’s office press release continues. “The officer fired a fourth shot striking Escalera in the chest.”
The fourth shot proved fatal, and Escalera was pronounced dead at nearby Delnor Hospital, officials say.
A toxicology report shows that Escalera had the “presence of amphetamines, methamphetamines, and olanzapine” in his system, according to the state attorney’s office. Olanzapine is a drug used to treat the symptoms of schizophrenia.
The state’s attorney’s office concluded that the St. Charles police officer “had the reasonable belief that the deadly force he employed was necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or other individuals.”
“Acknowledging the tragic loss of life and offering condolences to Mr. Escalera’s family, my office has therefore closed the investigation into this matter,” Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie L. Mosser says.
The police did a favour for the people in the NH