Gun company: Tests show Will County cop’s rifle did not malfunction in fatal shooting

The rifle used in the fatal shooting of a hostage taker by a Will County sheriff’s lieutenant at a Romeoville bank was tested by “two independent bodies” and was found not to have malfunctioned, a company executive said.

A Will County special grand jury found no probable cause for a criminal offense regarding Lt. John Allen’s fatal shooting in 2022 of Gregory Walker, 65, of Crest Hill, after the latter had taken hostages at Fifth Third Bank in Romeoville.

Walker was armed with a revolver, which he fired twice into the ceiling, but he later released the hostages, according to Illinois State Police, the agency that investigated the incident.

Walker unloaded his revolver, put the revolver on a chair and tossed live cartridges from the firearm into the bank’s vestibule, police said.

Initially, Walker had surrendered by kneeling and putting his hands on his head, but he was shot when he walked toward the glass door entrance, as shown on a video released by state police.

The rifle used in the shooting was an Accuracy International AX308, Illinois State Police spokeswoman Melaney Arnold said.

In a message to The Herald-News, Scott Seigmund, vice president of Accuracy International of America, said the company responded to “three separate subpoenas related to this case.”

Seigmund said the company complied with detailed information on “every instance providing service and/or repair to rifles of the model in question” to include service and user manuals that “detail the required safety protocols and maintenance requirements.”

Seigmund said there has “never been a malfunction of the alleged type” in any Accuracy International rifle and, as such, the company has “no records of such malfunctions.”

“The rifle in question (used by Allen) was tested by two independent bodies, and they concurred that the rifle did not malfunction, and it was found to be in serviceable condition with no defects or deficiencies,” Seigmund said.

He said the company does not have official reports from the testing organizations, but they could be obtained by Illinois State Police.

The day after Walker’s shooting, the Will County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by Keith George, president of the Metropolitan Alliance of Police, a union that represents Allen, said Dan Jungles, deputy chief of the sheriff’s office.

George indicated that the shooting occurred as a result of a weapons malfunction, Jungles said.

“Once told this, all rifles were immediately taken out of service at that time,” Jungles said.

George has not yet responded to a call from The Herald-News or a message submitted to the website of the Metropolitan Alliance of Police.

Jungles said the sheriff’s office was “unaware of any potential malfunction issues like what occurred prior to the incident involving these rifles.”

The internal investigation of Allen is expected to begin at some point in the future following delays stemming from the criminal investigation and prosecutorial review of the incident.

Although a grand jury has declined to approve charges against Allen, he still faces an ongoing federal lawsuit from Walker’s family over the incident. Sheriff Mike Kelley and the county government also have been named defendants in the lawsuit.