Task force identifies man shot by Joliet police officer

Task force officials investigating a police shooting identified the man who was shot Thursday and said he remains hospitalized in stable condition.

Cordairel Whitmore, 29, of Joliet, was the man who was shot three times by a Joliet police officer in the 1200 block of Nicholson Street, according to a news release from the Will-Grundy Major Crimes Task Force, the agency investigating the shooting.

The task force did not release the name of the officer who shot Whitmore. The officer has been with the Joliet Police Department for more than 20 years, task force officials said.

The officer and other Joliet police officers at the scene are scheduled to be interviewed by task force investigators early next week.

Task force officials said they are working closely with Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow’s office regarding the incident.

“Mr. Whitmore is in stable condition and alert while recovering at [AMITA Health Saint Joseph Medical Center]. Mr. Whitmore spoke with task force investigators today and is fully cooperating with the investigation,” task force officials said.

The task force said the gun Whitmore reportedly pointed at an officer was a Sig Sauer P365 air pistol that is “made to look and feel like the 9 mm version of this same handgun.”

In a news release Thursday, task force officials said officers were “engaged in a conversation” with Whitmore when he “produced a handgun and pointed it at an officer.”

“The officer then fired shots at this individual, striking him multiple times,” task force officials said.

Officers “made the scene safe” and rendered medical aid to Whitmore, according to the task force. Whittier was taken to AMITA Health Saint Joseph Medical Center, where he underwent surgery and was reportedly in stable condition.

Two Joliet police officers were taken to Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox “consistent with officer-involved incident protocols,” officials said. Those officers were evaluated and released.

On Thursday, Leslie Thompson, who said she lives on the second floor of the Nicholson Street residence where the incident occurred, said she didn’t witness the shooting itself but did see the man who had been reportedly shot on the the building’s porch.

Thompson said she saw the man when she went outside the residence after she heard what sounded like four gunshots. Before she heard the gunshots, she said she heard a lot of commotion in the downstairs area.

“I didn’t know what to do at that time, I was in shock,” she said.

She said the man was face down on the porch and bleeding from the back of his right shoulder. She said about three or four officers put something on his wound as if they were trying to stop the bleeding.

Thompson said she heard one of the officers say, “Get the first-aid kit.”

She said she saw the man’s mother come outside the residence and say, “Y’all didn’t kill him, did y’all?”

Thompson said she didn’t know the man’s name but knew his mother, and that he was about the same age as her son, who is in his late 20s. She said the mother and son lived in the lower level of the residence.

“He was always a nice guy. He’d take out the garbage, stuff like that,” she said.