Illinois State Police (ISP) released dashcam video of the officer-involved shooting on Interstate 64, near Mt. Vernon, on May 9, 2023, at 3:30 AM. The incident began as a motorist assist by an Illinois State Trooper but turned into a fatal shootout. Brandon L Griffin, 23, and his wife Christine J Santos, 31, both of Albuquerque, New Mexico, provided false names and birth dates to the Trooper initially. After obtaining their real names, the Trooper discovered they both had warrants out of New Mexico on weapon charges. Griffin resisted arrest as Troopers attempted to place him into custody. Santos is heard in the footage begging the Troopers to let Griffin and said “we are going to die, they tried to kill us in there”. Griffin yelled at the Troopers “you are going to have to shoot me, I’m not going”. Troopers deployed a taser to gain control of Griffin but he was able to get away and reach in the vehicle and grab a gun. The two Troopers ran when Griffin pulled a handgun and fired at the Troopers. One Trooper was shot and taken to an area hospital for treatment and has since been released and is recovering at home. Christine Santos was taken into custody with incident and is currently being held in the Jefferson County Jail on a no-bond warrant out of New Mexico for violation of bond and Aggravated Assault with a Firearm, where she is co-defendant with Griffin. Brandon Griffin was found deceased in the vehicle.
In accordance with ISP’s commitment to integrity and public transparency, the video of the event is being made available to the public and can be found by clicking https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc01KTJOEI8.
This video is being released after consultation with and authorization by the Jefferson County State’s Attorney. ISP provided Griffin’s mother the opportunity to review the video before its release to the public.
This remains an ongoing investigation being conducted by ISP and is under review by the Jefferson County State’s Attorney’s Office. No additional information is available at this time.
