Video taken from the body camera worn by an Elgin police officer involved in the shooting of a suicidal man Jan. 13 has been released by the Elgin Police Department.
Although the case remains under investigation by the Illinois State Police Public Integrity Task Force, Police Chief Ana Lalley says in the video’s introduction that the police department wants to “provide information and updates to this incident when available to meet the community’s expectations for transparency.”
The video has been posted to the Elgin Police Department’s Transparency Hub and can be seen here. (Warning: Some of the images are graphic and may be disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.)
The video also includes the recorded 911 call from a woman seeking emergency help for the 29-year-old man, who had stabbed himself in the neck and chest at a town home in the 900 block of Oak Ridge Boulevard. The knife used to inflict the initial wounds was taken away from him, the 911 caller says, so he’s using a pen to injure himself, according to the recorded call.
Officer Fernando Camacho is seen arriving about 1:30 a.m. and attempts to calm the man, whose torso is streaked with blood, by urging him to sit down and wait for medical help while the man repeatedly says, “I want to be dead” and “I want to die.”
The video shows that when Camacho takes the man’s wrist, the man responds by grabbing a knife and stabbing himself again. Then he comes at the officer with the weapon, prompting Camacho to shoot him twice.
With the man on the ground, Camacho takes the knife and throws it away, handcuffs the man and alerts ambulance EMTs by radio that it’s safe for them to come in. While waiting for them, the officer tries to stop the blood flow, telling the man to “stay with me” as he’s joined by a second officer and a supervising officer.
The man survived the shooting and self-inflicted injuries. No information about his condition has been released.
Lalley says in the video that Camacho was taken to a local hospital for observation and testing, per department policy, and is now on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the state police investigation. Once the state review is complete and their findings released, an internal department investigation will be conducted, she said.