ISP releases video from DeKalb hostage standoff fatal police shooting

DeKALB – Illinois State Police on Thursday released video footage of an Oct. 23 fatal police shooting in DeKalb Township which shows the final moments of a Rockford man who authorities said took a woman hostage during an hourslong standoff, then fired at police and was shot and killed.

No criminal charges will be brought against the police officer who fired the fatal shot, said DeKalb County State’s Attorney Rick Amato Thursday after reviewing the use of force with ISP. Amato called the officer’s actions justified in a letter obtained by Shaw Local News Network through a public records request.

State police said they chose to release the footage “in accordance with the Illinois State Police’s commitment to integrity and public transparency,” according to a news release. Authorities released the footage “after consultation and authorization” from the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office also, according to the release.

DeKalb County Sheriff Andy Sullivan said Thursday he believes the county’s tactical response team – made up of law enforcement from the sheriff’s office, and police from DeKalb city, Sycamore and Northern Illinois University departments – acted with “great restraint.”

“This was a very difficult call for them to be on,” Sullivan said Thursday. “There were numerous attempts to have this end in a peaceful resolution. The team worked tremendously well together with the negotiations to get the hostage released. Thankfully that happened and unfortunately this individual ended up firing at officers and they had to return fire.”

The edited video footage released on ISP’s YouTube page Thursday is 7 minutes and 35 seconds long. The video includes drone footage which ISP said has no audio available. Footage shows the man, who the county coroner identified as Abram Perez, 42, of Rockford in apparent distress for almost 4 minutes. He sits inside a red car shirtless, holding a handgun up to his own head multiple times, shaking his head, opening and closing his mouth. The woman, who police did not identify but said was held hostage for hours, is not seen in the video because she had already been released.

After about four minutes, Perez points the gun directly in front of him and fires it five times through the car’s windshield, the footage shows. He stops when a single bullet, which ISP said was fired by one police officer on the scene, enters the car through the windshield, striking Perez. He was pronounced dead on the scene, according to the sheriff’s office.

According to a letter dated Thursday, Nov. 21 that Amato sent to ISP Special Agent Brian Lewis, the State’s Attorney’s office began reviewing the shooting on Nov. 15. The county’s top prosecutor wrote he reviewed among other things field notes, crime scene police reports, body worn and dash camera footage, evidence, drone video, police radio calls and autopsy records related to the police shooting.

New details uncovered in Amato’s letter show police negotiators attempted to appeal to Perez for almost four hours, throwing a cell phone into the car so they could speak with him, offering him cigarettes when he requested them and attempting to bring his family to the scene. Family members weren’t able to convince Perez to surrender, and he threatened multiple times to harm himself and the woman, according to Amato’s findings.

“All resources and techniques that law enforcement used that night were proper, needed, and should be commended,” Amato wrote in his findings. “...[A]ll efforts to resolve the matter in any other manner were destroyed once Perez decided to shoot his gun at the police.”

Authorities have not released details on a motive or why the man allegedly took a hostage. Police believe the woman was the driver of the car as she was held hostage, according to Amato’s findings. Police said they also believe Perez had a broken leg at the time.

The officer who fired the fatal shot is a DeKalb city police officer, despite the shooting happening in DeKalb Township which falls under the jurisdiction of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office.

Sullivan told Shaw Local this week that the city police officer was at the standoff as part of the county’s Special Operations Team. The team is trained to respond to hostage and standoff situations.

“They showed great restraint the entire time, and tremendous resolve and resiliency throughout the entire event,” Sullivan said.

The drone footage released begins about 45 seconds into the video, and shows a shirtless man, identified as Perez, sitting in the passenger side front seat of a red car. A piece of clothing appears to be hanging, partially obscuring the view of the man from the passenger side front window and a portion of the front windshield. The sun visor on the passenger side also is down.

Blinking police lights can be seen reflecting off the lefthand side of the car but police vehicles are not seen in the video frame. Infrared footage also released by ISP shows a widened aerial view of the scene and the suspect car with an open driver’s side door, surrounded by police vehicles on rural Rich Road. The infrared footage shows six bullet holes in the car’s windshield following the shooting.

“There were numerous attempts to have this end in a peaceful resolution. The team worked tremendously well together with the negotiations to get the hostage released.”

—  DeKalb County Sheriff Andy Sullivan

Police shot and killed Perez after a vehicle chase through the city of DeKalb into DeKalb Township on Rich Road, west of Nelson Road, according to an Oct. 23 news release from the sheriff’s office.

Local law enforcement tracked a red car – a 2020 red Buick with plates registered to a DeKalb address – when it came into the county. Authorities had received a tip from Rockford police that the suspect car was wanted in connection with a Rockford shooting that had occurred earlier that night.

Police tried to pull over the car but were unsuccessful, according to the sheriff’s office. Deputies managed to burst the tires of the car along Rich Road, where it came to a stop. At the time, Perez, who was in the passenger seat, refused to exit the vehicle or release the woman, police said.

When police tried to approach the car, he threatened to shoot the woman, according to Amato’s findings.

Perez allegedly held a woman hostage inside a vehicle in rural DeKalb Township from about 1 a.m. to 4:30 a.m., refusing to come out of the vehicle and eventually firing a handgun at police multiple times. No officers were injured, but a county sheriff squad car and an armored vehicle were struck by gunfire, Sullivan previously said.

Perez released the woman, who was not injured, around 4:30 a.m., authorities said, and he then sat in the car for about 20 minutes longer, a portion of which is included in the footage released by ISP.

Shortly after, about 4:50 a.m., Perez fired the gun multiples times at police, refusing orders to put it down, authorities said. One officer fired one round, fatally striking Perez.

This story was updated at 6 p.m. Nov. 21, 2024, with information from DeKalb County State’s Attorney Rick Amato. More updates could occur.