‘Embarrassed’ — O’Dekirk points fingers, ducks questions

Mayor Bob O’Dekirk, city and police officials held a meeting on a detective’s fatal shooting of a robbery suspect where they could not answer many of the residents’ questions because they were limited to information in a Will County State’s Attorney’s letter.

A common response to some questions from police officials throughout Thursday’s meeting with residents about detective Aaron Bandy’s fatal shooting of robbery suspect Bruce Carter was that they could not provide information because they didn’t perform the investigation and only had details from State’s Attorney James Glasgow’s letter.

“We have to go by Mr. Glasgow’s report because that’s all the information that we know at this point,” Joliet Deputy Police Chief Darrell Gavin said at the meeting.

Glasgow's letter was released May 7 on the findings of an investigation of Bandy's shooting. He said the shooting was justified.

It’s not clear why Will-Grundy Task Force members, who investigated the shooting, and Glasgow, were not at the meeting to answer questions. O’Dekirk failed to respond to calls seeking an answer to why he held the meeting without them.

While police officials were able to answer some questions about the fatal shooting by referring Glasgow’s letter on the investigation, they weren’t able to answer residents’ questions about the appearance of the utility knife Carter reportedly possessed before he charged at Bandy, if the knife had blood on it, if Carter collapsed on Bandy and if Bandy rendered aid to Carter after he shot him.

“We do appreciate the fact that when you got this information, that you shared it with us. We understand that. It kind of leaves us with more questions, this information,” one resident said at the meeting.

Gavin said task force members and Glasgow were invited to Thursday’s meeting, but they declined to attend. Task force chairman Ken Kroll didn’t return calls Friday.

State’s attorney spokeswoman Carole Cheney did not answer when asked why Glasgow was not at the meeting. Cheney said the task force will publicly release a report but did not give further details.

O’Dekirk did not allow The Herald-News to ask questions at the public meeting, saying it was for “people of Joliet.”

The city’s news release on the meeting said its purpose was to “address any questions or concerns” about the fatal shooting. The news release does not say the media was prohibited from asking questions.

He also said The Herald-News “embarrassed yourself with your coverage of this situation.”

Joliet Police Chief Al Roechner has declined to answer questions about the bank robbery and shooting while the investigation was underway. He has yet to respond to calls from The Herald-News since the public release of Glasgow’s letter.

On Feb. 7, The Herald-News filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the city for police reports on the shooting and the bank robbery, as well as video footage of the robbery.

City officials refused to release the records, arguing their disclosure would interfere with ongoing investigations. The request is being reviewed by the Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Bureau.

O’Dekirk said at Thursday’s meeting that city and police officials were limited in what they could say in answering questions or explaining what happened with the shooting.

After the meeting, Gavin said video apparently showing Carter robbing the bank could not be released until the investigation of the shooting was complete.