No internal investigation yet into Will County officer’s 2022 shooting of hostage taker

An internal affairs investigation into a Will County lieutenant’s fatal shooting of a bank hostage taker in 2022 still has not begun.

On May 10, 2022, Gregory Walker, 65, of Crest Hill, had taken hostages at Fifth Third Bank in Romeoville, according to the Will County Sheriff’s Office. At some point, Walker exited the bank but was mortally wounded after he was shot by a SWAT team member.

Walker’s family has claimed in a federal lawsuit that Will County Sheriff’s Lt. John Allen wrongfully shot Walker in the chest when he released the hostages and left the building unarmed with his hands in the air.

As of Tuesday, the internal affairs investigation of Allen has not yet started, Will County Sheriff’s Deputy Chief Dan Jungles said.

The sheriff’s office has not received “any findings, test results, analysis, reports or any documentation regarding” the case, Jungles said.

Without that information, the sheriff’s office can’t proceed with the internal investigation, he said.

“We have requested those documents to begin our internal investigation to the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office, and we were advised that they will not provide those documents until there’s a ruling on the case,” Jungles said.

The fatal shooting of Walker has been under investigation by Illinois State Police and Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow’s office.

On Monday, a representative of Glasgow’s office said the investigation still is ongoing.

At two and a half years, the investigation has lasted the longest out of at least 18 cases involving a police shooting since 2019 in Will County.

Last May, Glasgow’s former spokeswoman, Carole Cheney, said the “complexity” of the Walker case is “unlike any other officer-involved shooting incident this office has experienced.”

Illinois State Police has denied public access to the videos and reports of the shooting because they are “awaiting a charging decision” from Glasgow’s office.

Appeals of that denial have been pending with Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office. His office usually provides legal representation for the state police.

In Walker’s family’s lawsuit, U.S. Judge Sara Ellis granted a request from Allen’s attorneys to suspend the court proceedings against him.

Allen’s attorneys have argued that if Allen was forced to respond to the lawsuit, he would either have to invoke his right against self-incrimination or potentially prejudice himself in a criminal proceeding.

In the meantime, Allen has been trying to reach a settlement in the case.

An “off-the-record telephone conference” has been set for Dec. 23 to “discuss resetting the settlement conference,” according to the federal court docket.