The fatal officer-involved shooting in Toulon was justified according to the Stark County State’s Attorney, Caroline Borden Campion. State’s Attorney Campion said “Overall, the officers’ actions were legally justified, reasonable and necessary to protect the health and safety of the officers, the community of Toulon and citizens of Stark County”. According to the release, the shooting of Rodney Williams was done while Mr. Williams was striking an officer with a machete. The shooting of Mr. Williams “was legally justified by officers of the Henry County Special Operations Squad to prevent death or great bodily harm to others”. Sheriff Josh Verscheure confirmed that both Henry County Sheriff’s Office Deputies are back on active duty. We have reached out to Deputy Chief Kijanowski of the Kewanee Police Department regarding the Kewanee Officer placed on paid administrative leave following the shooting. Both Henry County Sheriff’s Office and the Kewanee Police Department said that it is protocol to place officers on administrative leave following an incident like this one.
On February 18, 2023, officers from the Henry County Special Operations Squad (HCSOS) arrived at Rodney Williams apartment around 6 AM with an arrest warrant ,with no-knock authority, to arrest Williams and confiscate any weapons in the apartment. Stark County officers initiated the HCSOS to arrest Mr. Williams due to threats he made and knowingly being in possession of a machete. On February 17th, Mr. Williams was charged with Aggravated Assault after threatening his landlord with the machete when his landlord was at the apartment to examine door damage and deliver a note to Mr. Williams. According to testimony, Williams yelled “I’m going to kill you and I’m going to cut off your *** head” at his landlord while holding a machete. Rodney Williams also swung a machete out his bedroom window near emergency personnel when Stark County Deputies conducted a welfare check on February 10th. Mr. Williams refused to leave his bedroom during the welfare check as well, according to the release.
Officers observed Mr. Williams through the glass porch door yelling and holding a machete “in a cocked back position” while the team was outside the residence. Officers identified themselves as police and instructed Mr. Williams to open the door and come outside with his hands up. Williams did not comply and ran towards the back of his apartment. Officers identified themselves as police again but Williams did not respond. Officers made entry into the apartment and called out to Williams again but he didn’t respond. Officers heard banging noises from a room at the back of the apartment and believed Mr. Williams was barricading himself in the room. After clearing the rest of the apartment, Officers positioned themselves outside the door. Officers called out to Williams by name and told him he was under arrest. Officers breached the door after Williams failed to comply with orders. Mr. Williams charged at the first officer he encountered, which was a Henry County Sheriff’s Office Deputy. The deputy was standing directly in front of the door with a protective shield. Williams was “wielding the machete in an up and down slashing manner, striking the deputy’s shield multiple times hard enough to damage the shield designed to sustain gun-fire”, according to the release. Officers ordered Williams to several times to drop the weapon while he was striking the deputy’s shield.
The deputy pushed Williams back with the shield in an attempt to disarm him but struggled to keep the machete from slashing him. As the deputy began to lose his balance, Williams pulled the shield down and attempted to slash the deputy’s exposed torso. The deputy, another Henry County deputy and a Kewanee Police Officer discharged their weapons at Mr. Williams. Medical Personnel entered the apartment and transported Williams to the hospital where he passed away. The autopsy ruled the cause of death as multiple gunshot wounds. Officers recovered additional weapons at the scene, including a short-handled axe by the front door, a short-handled pick by the patio door and a black knife in the corner of the couch.
According to the release, body cam video shows that Mr. Williams’ momentum caused the deputy to lose his balance. The deputy was pushed backwards and exposed the other team members who were within feet of Mr. Williams. “At that point, lethal force was necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm” according to State’s Attorney Campion. “The threat to the deputy of death or great bodily harm was imminent as the next attempted slashing would like have been successful.”
The Stark County State’s Attorney’s Office investigation into the shooting entailed reviewing all reports, body camera footage, lab reports, audio recordings and all other documents prepared by the Illinois State Police.
