Officer Shoots Man Who Pointed Replica Gun At Him: Cops

LAKE COUNTY, IL — A Grayslake Police Department officer shot a man who pulled out a replica gun and pointed it at the officer Tuesday night, authorities said. The 28-year-old man of unincorporated Round Lake has been hospitalized in serious condition.

Officers with the Grayslake Police Department were called to a home in the 1600 block of Fairport Drive in Grayslake for a report of a person who was threatening to take his own life. The mom of the man called police to report her son was suicidal, Sgt. Christopher Covelli, public information officer with the Lake County Major Crime Task Force, told Patch.

Grayslake officers arrived and attempted to talk to the man. As two officers approached the front door, the man walked out of the home and was armed with a pistol, police said.

The man pointed the pistol at the officers, and one of the officers shot him, Covelli said Wednesday morning.

The man was struck and wounded and taken to an area hospital where he remains in serious but stable condition, police said.

Authorities determined the gun the man was holding was a replica semi-automatic pistol with a black and silver finish. There were no markings on the firearm to indicate it was not real, police said.

Authorities say the home where the shooting occurred belonged to an extended relative of the 28-year-old man. It was not immediately clear why the man was at his relative's home in Grayslake, and task force investigators are looking into why he was at the relative's home, Covelli said.

They are also planning to speak to the man's mother with the hopes of learning more about what her and her son talked about before she reported him as suicidal to police, he said.

The officer, an 18-year-old veteran of the Grayslake Police Department, is on paid administrative leave as the Lake County Major Crime Task Force conducts an independent investigation. The results of the investigation will be turned over to the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office to determine if there was any wrongdoing.