After Shooting Cop, Gunman Flees with AK-47: Police

posted May 8, 2016

MAHOMET, IL — Police are on the hunt Sunday morning for a desperate, wounded man who exchanged gunfire with a police officer in Champaign County, wounding the officer and then fleeing with a rifle.

Illinois State Police believe Dracy "Clint" Pendleton may be carrying an AK-47. He's considered "heavily armed and dangerous" and may be on the road in a stolen Mid-America Sand & Gravel truck.

State Police are warning police in other jurisdictions to be on the lookout. Meanwhile, METRO SWAT is conducting a manhunt in Champaign County on the ground and with helicopter support. As of 6:30 p.m. Sunday, he's yet to be found.

Pendleton was stopped in Mahomet, northwest of Champaign, for a traffic violation Saturday night at 11 p.m. He was let off with a warning but later encountered another police officer, engaged in an altercation and began shooting. He shot the officer with a handgun, according to police, then ran into a residence and emerged with a high-powered rifle and began firing before escaping.

Police Chief Mike Metzler told the Champaign News-Gazette the officer tried to use his Taser on Pendleton. After the shooting, two police officers rushed to the scene from the police station, which was just two blocks away. Mahomet is a small town of about 7,800 residents.

An Illinois State Police trooper responding to the officer's call for assistance after being shot struck a van at an intersection in Decatur, killing a 26-year-old woman inside the van. The trooper had his emergency lights and siren activated, according to the State Police.

The wounded officer has been identified as Jeremy Scharlow, 35. The nine-year veteran was shot in the arm.

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The wounded officer was released from a hospital Sunday morning. Police believe Pendleton was wounded in the gunfight.

Wanted for attempted murder of a police officer, Pendleton, of Bellflower, was last believed to be in the vicinity of the River Bend Forest Preserve in Mahomet, reports the Mahomet Daily. The gravel company's property is near the forest preserve where Pendleton's pickup truck was found abandoned.

Pendleton, 34, is 5-foot, 10-inches tall, about 170 pounds, with blond hair and blue eyes. The truck is a white GMC 2500, with the number 30070 on the door.

Stefani Tobias told the Champaign News-Gazette she heard the gunfire:

... she was in a back bedroom watching a movie with her 8-year-old son just before 11 p.m. Saturday when she heard "what sounded like five gunshots."

"And then there was a pause, I don't know how long, and another three shots that were fired. I heard a vehicle that sounded like it backed out and stomped on the gas and sounded like it hit something," Tobias said.

Almost six hours later, Tobias could see a Mahomet police squad car outside her house, which is just south of the house where the shooting occurred on the same side of the street.

"It looks like the door is smashed on it," she said. "It's dark and I'm looking through a window. There are still cops out there with flashlights. There's crime scene tape all around."

Pendleton has a criminal record, including convictions for unlawful use of weapons and aggravated assault.

Mahomet police, Champaign County sheriff's deputies, and police from nearby Rantoul, Urbana, Parkland, the University of Illinois police and State Police are involved in the search.

This story is developing; refresh for updates.