The Forest Park police officer was on the lookout for a silver Volkswagen suspected in a hit-and-run crash Friday when one pulled up next to the squad car and tried to create space for a right-hand-turn lane where there wasn’t any.
The driver of the Volkswagen threw it in reverse.
The officer, whose name hasn’t been released, started to put his squad car in reverse, too, before another car pulled up behind him and kept him from going back any farther at the intersection of Jackson Boulevard and Harlem, said Deputy Chief Michael Keating.
"So he just gets out on foot to order him to stop the (Volkswagen) and at that point the officer was able to get in front of the stolen car, to get him to stop," Keating said. "And that’s when the car lurched toward the officer."
Keating and state police didn’t say whether a weapon was recovered in the silver Volkswagen that authorities believe Marco Gomez, 26, stole from a home on Bloomingdale Road in Glendale Heights the week before. Information on whether Gomez made any verbal threats also hasn’t been released.
What Keating believes, though, is when a car accelerated toward him, the officer likely feared for his life.
"I believe the officer was standing like literally right in front of the car," Keating said. "His life was in danger."
The officer, standing in the road, shot into the Volkswagen.
Gomez was killed and the officer has been placed on paid administrative leave, as is customary after a shooting, Keating said. Illinois State Police are investigating the Friday shooting, which followed a hit-and-run near the Chicago-Oak Park border, and the car theft from Glendale Heights, officials said.
"The investigation is currently active and ongoing," said Master Sgt. Jason Bradley of the Illinois State Police, which will examine the use of force in the officer-involved shooting to determine whether it was justified. Bradley declined to comment further.
Keating explained that the officer knew about the hit-and-run because police departments of three western suburbs –Oak Park, River Park and Forest Park–all use the same police radio frequency, so if they have to quickly pick up on something as it crosses into their jurisdiction, they can.
"It’s for mutual aid and for safety," he said.
Friday about 6 p.m. an officer was listening to a Chicago police radio frequency and relaying pertinent details from a pursuit that was going on as it approached the three suburbs.
There was a hit-and-run crash involving a silver Volkswagen and the car was headed down Jackson Boulevard. The officer who later shot Gomez was listening to those relayed messages as he patrolled that night, Keating said.
The officer monitoring the radio traffic "was just repeating what he heard — the most important stuff: that it might be headed toward us … and the last thing anyone heard was the car was last seen on Jackson toward Oak Park. So again, I’m surmising, but he’s probably realizing Jackson would probably be the street you’d want to be on," Keating said.
But the officer likely figured he’d missed the car he was looking for. Keating guesses the attempted left turn onto Harlem was an indication the officer was either going to turn around and try again or move on to the next call. Keating believes the officer would have been surprised the silver Volkswagen was coming up behind the squad car.
Authorities said the case will remain under investigation by the state police public integrity unit.
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