By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — In the moments before officers opened fire on an armed man outside the Rockford Casino, deputies pleaded with him to drop the gun so they could get him the help he needs.
“How do you want to help me?” the man shouts back at officers before firing a shot in the air. “What help?”
That interaction unfolded around 8:30 p.m. May 28 in the parking lot of the casino along Bell School Road.
Bradley James Thompkins, 51, was pointing a handgun at his own head during the exchange, but when he lowered it toward officers, grasping the weapon with two hands, police fired multiple rounds at him. Then, officers moved in, kicked his gun away, turned him onto his stomach and placed him in handcuffs, newly released video shows.
Thompkins is still in the hospital in critical condition.
The shooting and exchange with officers was captured on deputies body-worn cameras and a Rockford police dash cam. Both departments released videos on Friday of the shooting, which is being investigated by the Winnebago Boone County Integrity Task Force.
“I’m committed to sharing this video in an effort to be transparent to our citizens,” Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana said in the video, in which he provides narration before video footage rolls.
The task force, a coalition of 15 law enforcement agencies from around the region, is responsible for investigating when police use deadly force. It will turn over the results of its findings to State’s Attorney J. Hanley, who will determine whether criminal charges are warranted.
Both video news releases mix in clips of footage with narration and explanation provided by the departments. The city’s video is 4:22 and the county’s is 8 minutes. Both largely support the explanation of events that Hanley provided in an initial news conference on May 31.
Rockford police Sgt. Brandon Dillard narrates the video released by the city.
The county’s video includes a recording of the radio dispatch in which the dispatcher says “the subject threatened to shoot officers if they were to respond.”
Once on the scene, Deputy Tomasz Wysocki tried to plead with Thompkins to put his weapon down.
“Don’t do it, please,” Wysocki said. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
He tries to urge Thompkins to talk with him instead.
“What’s there to talk about,” Thompkins said.
Thompkins is then agitated by someone off camera who is apparently recording the incident.
“Put that video down,” Thompkins said. “You want to get shot?”
At one point, Thompkins says, “You gonna shoot me? Go ahead shoot.”
Police and deputies continued to try to talk to him until he pointed the weapon toward officers.
Two Rockford police officers — Dion Embrey and Jordan Black — and Winnebago County Sheriff’s Deputy Giorgi Arbisi shot Thompkins, according to Hanley’s previous statements. The video doesn’t offer clear view of which officers fired shots.
Once Thompkins is in handcuffs, you hear deputies on video talk about starting medical treatment.
More than a year ago, a co-responder program was created to pair police with mental health professionals during certain calls involving a mental health crisis. However, Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Chuck Davidson previously said this incident unfolded too quickly for that team to be activated.
The city also released a statement in its video recapping general order 1.06, which states when officers can use deadly force.
“Officers may use deadly force only when the officer reasonably believes that the action is in defense of human life, including the officer’s own life, or in defense of any person in imminent danger of serious physical injury,” the statement reads. “Definitions of conditional terms, such as those for reasonable belief, serious bodily injury, or similarly used terms that are used to qualify the directive>
The videos were both turned over to the task force for use in their investigation, Caruana said.
“Their investigation will evolve as investigators interview witnesses, review physical and electronic evidence and analyze eletronic evidence,” Caruana said. “We do not draw any conclusions about whether deputies or officers acted consistently with the law until all facts are known and the investigation is competed.”
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas.