Illinois State Police on Monday released video from last month’s shootout on Interstate 55 near Lexington, showing an armed man pointing what appears to be a gun at officers before being fatally shot as others nearby scrambled for cover.
State Police released about 10 minutes of video footage of the incident, which happened around 12:40 p.m. Feb. 24 on northbound I-55. The graphic video, which was posted to YouTube, shows two perspectives: one officer’s dashboard camera, and another officer’s body-worn camera. It does not provide a conclusive narrative about the incident, which is still under investigation.
State Police say its officers were responding to a call of shots fired. Video shows officers arriving at mile marker 177 near Lexington where two vehicles – a blue car, and a light-colored SUV – were already stopped on the shoulder. The video shows a man in a white shirt, standing behind the SUV, pointing what police believed was a gun at an arriving officer, as three other people stood nearby.
The man then walks into the middle of the interstate, then the median, as officers tell him to “get on the ground.” The first shots are then heard. The man ends up on the ground in the right lane of northbound I-55, near the blue car. Video shows him appearing to try and get up, as officers shout, “Show me your hands!” That’s followed by additional gunfire. The man them slumps back to the ground and does not get up again. The gunfire lasts around 70 seconds in total.
State Police say the man was Trayvon C. Little, 37, of Springfield, who was shot and killed. No one else was injured.
There were at least four other people in and around the two vehicles that day. Three people were standing outside the SUV near Little when officers arrived. They scrambled to take cover once the shooting began. Police found a fourth person inside the blue car after the shooting stopped – a woman who screams, “I ain’t got no gun!” as officers approach her.
Southbound I-55 traffic was still passing by as the shootout unfolded in broad daylight, on a Saturday afternoon. During the gunfire, one of the three people scrambling for cover is heard shouting, “Please don’t shoot me!”
The video does not make it clear whether Little fired at police and, if he did, how many times. After Little is wounded, the video shows officers approached and appeared to kick a handgun away from the area where he was shot. Blood is visible on the road and shoulder.
State Police say their investigation is ongoing but that they’ve “confirmed Little fired a shot from inside his vehicle in the direction of another vehicle before (State Police) officers arrived on scene.” State Police previously said officers saw him shoot at “the other vehicle” and that he pointed a firearm at them too. It's unclear how many shots were fired by State Police.
The video does not explain what led to the incident before officers arrived, or what Little’s relationship was to the other four people in and around the vehicles.
The State Police Division of Internal Investigation is leading the review, with findings sent on to McLean County State’s Attorney Erika Reynolds. Reynolds told WGLT on Monday that she’s still waiting on reports from State Police before reviewing the case.
WGLT filed a public records request seeking police video of the incident on Feb. 26. That request was still pending Monday when State Police sent out a press release saying that the video had been released on YouTube, “in accordance with ISP’s commitment to integrity and public transparency.”
Copyright 2024 WGLT.
