Attorney seeks to file new lawsuit over police shooting in Romeoville

An attorney has proposed a lawsuit with a new claim against a Will County sheriff’s lieutenant accused of unlawfully shooting and killing a hostage taker who surrendered himself to authorities with his hands raised.

On Dec. 12, Ian Barney, attorney for Brenda Nash-Milton, sister of Gregory Walker, 65, of Crest Hill, filed a motion that requested a federal judge allow him to submit a new lawsuit against Will County Sheriff Lt. John Allen.

The new claim in the proposed lawsuit alleged that Allen was aware that Walker was following “law enforcement commands” and he was unarmed when he agreed to exit Fifth Third Bank in Romeoville.

Before that point, Walker had been armed with a gun and took hostages at the bank on May 10, 2022, according to the Will County Sheriff’s Office.

“Lieutenant Allen was aware that Mr. Walker was unarmed as he exited the bank. As Mr. Walker exited the bank, Lieutenant Allen discharged his firearm, striking Mr. Walker in the chest with a bullet,” according to the proposed lawsuit.

Walker was pronounced dead at a Bolingbrook hospital as the result of a gunshot wound, according to the Will County Coroner’s Office.

Tuesday marks about 19 months since the incident occurred. It still remains under investigation and review, according to Carole Cheney, spokeswoman for Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow.

The sheriff’s office internal investigation of the incident involving Allen has been suspended until they have received all the reports from Illinois State Police, according to Will County Sheriff’s Deputy Chief Dan Jungles.

Barney’s Dec. 12 motion said that Illinois State Police turned over “thousands of pages of documents and dozens, if not hundreds, of videos.”

Based on a review of those records, Barney’s motion states that he seeks to file a new lawsuit. The attorneys for Allen, Will County Sheriff Mike Kelley and the county do not oppose the request, according to Barney’s motion.

If approved by the federal judge, the new lawsuit would serve as a third revised lawsuit since the case was filed on Feb. 20 of this year.

A second lawsuit that revised the first one was submitted on May 9 of this year. That lawsuit was sealed from public view and it named a second Will County sheriff’s deputy as a defendant in the case. That deputy’s identity was redacted in Barney’s Dec. 12 motion.

According to Barney’s motion, the second deputy was named as a defendant based on the limited discovery he had previously received. The latest lawsuit proposed by Barney removes that unnamed deputy as a defendant in the case.