April 15, 2024 – The Macon County State’s Attorney has determined that the use of force in the officer-involved shooting on March 18th was justified.
Macon County States Attorney, Scott A. Rueter, issued his review Monday. The States Attorney was required to determine if there was criminal liability on the part of the officers involved.
“I have reviewed the investigative reports submitted by the Illinois State Police, the reports generated by members of the Decatur Police Department, and most importantly, the first hand evidence of the body worn cameras and squad car video of the officers at the scene of the shooting,” Rueter said. “Based on the review of those materials, I am of the opinion that the officer’s use of force in this situation was not in violation of the laws of the State of Illinois and unfortunately a necessary response to the actions of the deceased.”
In addition, the Decatur Police Department has also concluded its internal investigation into the shooting, which was standard protocol with any officer involved shooting.
“In conjunction with the findings of the Macon County State’s Attorney’s Office following the investigation of this incident by the Illinois State Police, it is my decision that the Decatur Police Officers involved in this tragic incident were legally justified in their use of deadly force,” Decatur Police Chief Shane Brandel said in a statement. “In addition, after a careful and thorough internal review, it is my position that they were in compliance with DPD policies and procedures throughout this incident. As such, both officers have been cleared to return to full duty.”
In the released videos, officers can be seen ordering Dupin to the ground. Dupin initially begins to comply but then stands up despite warnings from the officers. Dupin is then seen struggling to unzip his Carhart jacket and then struggling to reach for something inside the jacket as the officers continue to shout warnings. Dupin eventually withdrew a weapon and the officers fired, striking him. Once Dupin was down, there was a moment in the footage where he shifted his body towards the officers and Officer Roberts fired once more.
Rueter stated that the suspect can be seen brandishing what appears to be a firearm that cannot be determined to be anything other than a real firearm by appearance. “Officers at that point had a legitimate fear that Mr. Dupin would use the firearm against them. As they have been trained to do, they fired upon Mr. Dupin to neutralize the threat.”
The weapon was identified as a Corpsman 375 snub nose replica pellet gun. Unlike most pellet guns or BB guns on the market that feature an orange tip to identify them as replicas, this model is designed to intentionally look like a real 375 snub nose revolver.
Reuter also addressed the number of times the officers fired on Dupin. “I understand that there will be some who will say that the number of shots was excessive. The timing from the point of the first shot until the last was 8 seconds,”Reuter said. During that period Mr. Dupin was still moving, and had the weapon under his control or the weapon was out of the view of the officers. Especially on the squad car video, it can be observed that just before the final shot was fired, Mr. Dupin appears to move his right hand and arm as if to possibly retrieve the firearm from under his body.”
“Although the death of Mr. Dupin is regrettable, the officers’ response to his actions is not in violation of law,” Reuter concluded.
