Police in Zion, Illinois, say the 17-year-old black teenager killed by an officer on Saturday was attempting to steal a handgun in the minutes before his death.
Zion police have maintained that a handgun was found at the scene of Justus Howell’s death, but eyewitnesses speaking to the Chicago Sun-Times have said they saw no weapons recovered by police.
On Monday the Lake County coroner released the findings of an autopsy, which concluded that Howell had been shot twice in the back. Zion police had at that point released scant information on the case, but late Monday issued a press release confirming that the officer who fired the shots – an unnamed 32-year-old male who has worked with Zion police for nine years – had been placed on paid administrative leave.
The shooting is being investigated by the Lake County major crime task force, but residents have told local television news they already distrust that process and would like a federal agency to intervene.
Zion police took the unusual step of including a witness’s testimony in their release on Monday. They confirmed that 18-year-old Tramond Peet had been charged with two counts of aggravated unlawful use of weapon after being stopped for a traffic violation on the same day Howell was killed.
According to the Zion police department, Peet told investigators he had met Howell earlier in the day “for the purpose of selling him a handgun”.
“During the transaction Howell attempted to take the handgun without paying for it,” the release states. “Howell and Peet physically struggled over gun resulting in one round being discharged into the ground. At one point Howell pointed the gun at Peet,” the release alleges.
It continues that Peet then let go of the gun when he heard “the sound of squad cars approaching” and saw officers running after Howell and heard commands before gunshots. Peet is then said to have fled the area.
Zion police told the Guardian they would not respond to further questions, and a call to the task force was not returned.
Howell’s mother, LaToya Howell, has maintained that her son was running from police when he was shot.
“Justus was a young man murdered by Zion police,” she told the Sun-Times. “As he was fleeing from police, they killed my son. He couldn’t have been a threat if he was running.”
