Task force investigating 2 fatal police shootings in 1 night

An outside agency is investigating two fatal shootings by police officers that occurred over the course of a single night in Shorewood and Crest Hill.

On Monday evening, a Shorewood police officer shot and killed Jose DeJesus-Hernandez, 40, of Oswego after he brandished a firearm and fired once from his vehicle, according to the Will-Grundy Major Crimes Task Force.

That same night, a Crest Hill police sergeant shot and killed Matthew Parks, 30, of Crest Hill after Parks slashed the artery in an officer’s leg, task force officials said. The officer had responded to a report of a domestic battery.

The killings mark the 15th and 16th police shootings that the task force have been called to investigate since 2013, according to data provided by task force executive director Dan Jungles, a deputy chief for Will County Sheriff’s Office.

Last year, the task force opened four investigations into police shootings, the most in a single year since 2013.

Last year, Cordairel Whitmore, 30, and William Jenkins, 38, were wounded by Joliet police officers. In the other two cases, Will County deputies shot and killed Jabbar Muhammad, 21, who fatally stabbed his grandfather, and Alexander Wheeler, 21, who wounded his father in a shooting, task force officials said.

The task force, created in 2009, typically investigates police shootings in accordance with a state law that requires outside investigations into police-related deaths. The task force is composed of officers from departments across Will and Grundy counties.

The shooting that led to the death of DeJesus-Hernandez Monday night occurred in the parking lot of a LaQuinta Inn.

Shorewood Police Chief Philip Arnold said officers were sent to the 19715 Northeast Frontage Road hotel just after 11:30 p.m. Monday in response to a “man requesting an ambulance in the rear of the parking lot.”

As Shorewood police officers responded to the scene, they saw an “unknown male” brandishing a firearm, according to the task force.

Officers took protective cover behind available barriers and shouted commands at the armed man, according to the task force. Shorewood police requested assistance from other departments.

“It was reported to responding personnel that the suspect entered his vehicle, ignoring commands,” according to the task force.

The armed man fired once from his vehicle and a Shorewood police officer returned fire, according to the task force. Officers could not detect any movement inside the vehicle.

Because officers were not able to conduct a threat assessment of the situation, a small contingent of the Will County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team were sent to the scene, according to the task force.

SWAT members approached the suspect’s vehicle, removed him and attempted to perform life-saving measures, task force officials said.

Paramedics determined the man, identified as DeJesus-Hernandez, showed no signs of life.

In the other incident, Crest Hill police officers had responded to the 1400 block of Pioneer Road for a domestic battery complaint, according to the task force. A woman told dispatch that her husband punched her in the face, and there were several children present.

Dispatch advised officers that arguing and crying could be heard, and someone was “making comments about ‘suicide by police,’” according to the task force.

“One of the calls received by the dispatch center indicated that the male half of this disturbance was armed with a knife,” according to the task force.

The suicidal husband was identified by police as Parks. When officers arrived a confrontation ensued between Parks and the officers.

Parks then stabbed an officer in the leg, according to the task force, and a police sergeant shot Parks several times “in defense of the injured officer’s life.”