Illinois Cop Gunned Down on Highway

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glockguy45

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http://www.apbnews.com/cjprofessionals/behindthebadge/2000/06/02/copkilled0602_01.html

Illinois Cop Gunned Down on Highway
No Motive for Night Shooting, Police Say

June 2, 2000

By Seamus McGraw

HAMPSHIRE, Ill. (APBnews.com) -- A 50-year-old police officer married just three weeks ago was gunned down alongside a busy highway, and authorities are searching for the driver of a sport utility vehicle seen fleeing from the scene.

Police, responding to reports of shots fired around 9 p.m. Thursday outside an industrial park near U.S. Highway 20 and Interstate 90, found the body of Sgt. Gregory Sears sprawled on the side of the road about 15 yards from his police cruiser, said Detective Brian McCarty of the Kane County Sheriff's Department.

He had been shot at least once in the head, McCarty said.

Witnesses told police that they heard three shots, but authorities said they would not know until later today, when an autopsy is completed, how many struck the officer.

Questions remain

Nor was it immediately clear why Sears -- a seven-year veteran who was nominated in 1999 as Kane County's officer of the year -- stopped his cruiser on the side of the road.

"There was no evidence to suggest Sgt. Sears was on any type of call for service or traffic stop when the incident occurred," McCarty said.

The area where Sears was slain is a developing industrial section less than a mile from a busy interstate truck stop, and police have found several witnesses there, McCarty said.

"We're tracking down a number of leads," he said.


Seamus McGraw is an APBnews.com staff writer.
 
Not to jump at conclusions, but could this be somebody's private war against members of a particular organization? If some other cops was guilty of a capital offense and the wronged party decided to simply thin the ranks of that particular uniformed gang (that being IL and all)...

Could also be that a brave and noble defender of the people died in the line of duty. Maybe some moron didn't want a DWI arrest to happen to him...

Point is, we don't know for sure unless some TFLers or other trustworthy folks are on the scene.
 
“Nor was it immediately clear why Sears ... stopped his cruiser on the side of
the road.”
"There was no evidence to suggest Sgt. Sears was on any type of call for
service or traffic stop when the incident occurred,"

Strange. I learned what every LEO I’ve met knows and does: Before you get
out of your vehicle, report where you are, what you’re doing, why, and to
(with) whom.
When I had a police radio in my car (EMS), I always reported everything
when I stopped to help a stranded motorist (or whatever). Now, *if* I stop, I
simply use my cell phone to put all that on my answering machine at home
(or my “call notes”). If anything happens to me, the law will know who did it.

(chuckle) I guess we could debate whether I’m being careful, paranoid, or
possible vengeful! :D



------------------

Either you believe in the Second Amendment or you don't.
Stick it to 'em! RKBA!

TFL End of Summer Meet, August 12th & 13th, 2000
 
To all of you LEO's on this forum, I'm sorry for the loss of one of your brethren. And I sure hope the shooter(s) get a quick visit to Satan when they're caught.

Dick
 
I agree. To all LEO's out there in TFL land, my heart goes out to you and yours. And please know that there are millions of armed law abiding citizens out there who support your considerable efforts.

------------------
Safe shooting - PKAY
 
In todays newspaper, a suspect is in custody. Seems he was a lifelong friend of the late trooper. No word of possible motive.
 
Dennis,
In a perfect world you call in everytime prior to stepping out of your vehicle, however this is not always true. Sometimes things happen too fast or the radio is too busy to transmit. Also LEOs biggest enemy is getting to comfortable in the routine of your job duties.

I know of one very large California agency that does not call in traffic stops unless the officer feels some danger. The reason the administration gives is it would generate too much radio traffic, that is double speak for we would have to hire more dispatchers which costs money.

As a new officer my first LEO funereal was for an officer that could not transmit over the radio because the radio was too busy. He was shot in the head with his own gun. Once it went out "officer down" an officer who responded to help was also killed. Fourteen years later and it still seems like it was yesterday.

[This message has been edited by mrat (edited June 06, 2000).]
 
mrat,
Regardless of the number of years, I suppose that incident always will stay fresh in your memory. Perhaps that's a good thing. It may help conquer that "comfortable routine" you refer to.

I listen to the scanner sometimes - less than I used to. We probably have a bit slower environment than big city LEOs. I also understand your point about things sometimes happen too fast to report.

Still, our deputies here seem to reply to dispatcher's calls, report "enroute", "on scene", "out of the car", "back in the car", etc. pretty faithfully. ((Yes, they call it a "car"! :) ))

Also, they call in the description of every vehicle they stop - usually before they turn on the overheads. If they make some sort of quick stop, I've watched and listened as they use their outside speaker and tell occupants to "stay in the car" while they report the stop.

Obviously, if somebody jumps them they would not have time to do that. Happily, that is virtually unknown here.

Thanks for the reality check, mrat. Hope all our LEOs stay safe.

[This message has been edited by Dennis (edited June 06, 2000).]
 
This was only a few miles from me, it is very quiet out here away from the city (chicago) it was near I90. I was surprised to hear that this had happened, because aside from the usual bust for Pot, DUI, and speeding thats about all that happens out here. There was speculation that since he didn't radio when he got out of the car that he might have known his assailant.
 
I heard from a neighbor that he heard on the news that it was Cop on Cop violence! Anyone else hear that?
 
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