Outside investigator assigned to Will County cop’s fatal shooting internal affairs case

A private investigator contracted by a Chicago law firm will handle the internal affairs investigation of a fatal shooting of a hostage taker by a Will County sheriff’s lieutenant.

The internal affairs investigation of Lt. John Allen’s 2022 fatal shooting of Gregory Walker, 65, of Crest Hill, had been stalled for two and half years because of the criminal investigation of the incident.

Last January, a special grand jury in Will County found there was no probable cause that Allen committed a criminal offense in the shooting that took place May 10, 2022, at Fifth Third Bank in Romeoville.

Walker was armed with a revolver when he had taken hostages in the bank. He eventually released the hostages unharmed, set his revolver on a chair used to barricade the entrance and surrendered before he was shot by Allen.

“As a matter of transparency, the Will County Sheriff’s Office elected to seek an outside perspective into investigating the internal portion of this incident,” said Dan Jungles, a deputy chief with the sheriff’s office.

He said “all of the members currently assigned” to the internal affairs bureau had “initially responded as members” of the SWAT team to Fifth Third Bank on the day of the shooting.

In 2022, Allen was listed as a team leader of the sniper team for the SWAT team.

Chicago law firm Laner Muchin was contacted by the sheriff’s office to assist in the internal investigation, Jungles said. He said the sheriff’s office did not want to participate in choosing who would investigate the incident.

Laner Muchin has contracted a private investigator for the investigation, Jungles said.

“I have been told the investigator is a retired law enforcement officer who worked for the Illinois State Police,” Jungles said.

Jill O’Brien, partner and president of Laner Muchin, and Joseph Gagliardo, senior counsel, did not immediately respond to a message Friday.

In 2015, Laner Muchin was hired by Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans to investigate allegations of unlawful and questionable searches within Cook County’s probation department, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The rifle that Allen used in the Walker shooting was an Accuracy International AX308, according to Illinois State Police. The agency investigated the shooting.

Scott Seigmund, vice president of Accuracy International of America, said the rifle 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.”