Dixon man accused of attempting to kill three police officers in June to remain in jail

OREGON – A rural Dixon man charged with attempting to kill three police officers in June will remain in custody despite another request by his defense team that he should be released as his case proceeds through the court system.

Jonathon Gounaris, 32, is charged with four counts of attempted first-degree murder, three counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm, three counts of aggravated battery and two counts of possession of a firearm without a firearm owner’s identification card – all stemming from a June 12 standoff with police at his rural Dixon home.

He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

On Thursday, Gounaris appeared before Judge John “Ben” Roe for a status hearing. He is being held in the Winnebago County Jail in Rockford and was escorted into court dressed in a yellow jumpsuit issued to inmates and wearing handcuffs and leg irons by two Winnebago County corrections officers and two Ogle County court deputies.

Ogle County Assistant Public Defender Michael O’Brien told Roe that an agreement had been reached with the state’s attorney’s office regarding the release of certain materials to Gounaris which were essential to his defense.

“We are asking for police reports and any other items that are essential for his [Gounaris} defense,” said O’Brien.

Assistant State’s Attorney Heather Kruse said her office had tendered the requested materials to Roe for his review, including hospital records of the officers who were shot.

“Any raw video data is excluded,” Kruse said.

The agreed order does not include data from cell phones, iPads and videos. The Ogle County Sheriff’s Department released body camera footage of the June 12 incident on June 18.

To view body camera footage of the shootings, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zEhLBrcn0g.

O’Brien asked again for Gournaris to be released from custody. “There are a combination of conditions available...home detention, GPS monitoring,” O’Brien said.

During Gounaris’s initial detention hearing, the defense argued that if Gounaris were to be released, he could wear an electronic monitoring device and stay with relatives in Lake County who had pledged to bring him to every court hearing.

On Thursday, Kruse again disagreed. “He [Gounaris] is a danger to everyone in the community. He has shot at people,” Kruse said.

Roe agreed. “There is extensive evidence admitted from previous hearings. The defendant is remanded,” Roe said.

Gounaris is charged with shooting three members of the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Response Team after a three-hour standoff when police tried to enter his home at 402 Wild Rice Lane in Lost Lake, a rural subdivision east of Dixon.

Ogle County Sheriff’s Lt. Jason Ketter was shot in the face and taken by air ambulance to OSF Medical Center in Rockford, where he underwent surgery. He was released from the hospital June 14.

Ogle County Sheriff’s Deputy Tad Dominski was shot in the arm, and Tyler Carls of the Rochelle Fire Department was shot in the torso. They were treated at KSB Hospital in Dixon and released later that evening.

The ERT is made up of individuals from agencies including the sheriff’s office, Oregon and Byron police departments, and SWAT medics from the Rochelle Fire Department.

Gounaris also was shot during the gunfire exchange and was taken to KSB Hospital in Dixon, where he was treated before being booked into the Winnebago County Jail on June 18.

Gounaris’s next court hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Nov. 21.

In September, Winnebago County State’s Attorney J. Hanley independently reviewed the Ogle County Response Team’s use of force and determined the deputies acted in accordance with the law because they only fired their weapons after being shot at by Gounaris.

Hanley also determined that based on the amount of calls and texts sent to Gounaris prior to deputies attempting to the enter the home, he should have been aware that officers were outside of the home.

That review was made after the Illinois State Police, Zone 2, Major Crimes Investigation Unit conducted an investigation into the use of force.