Man shot by deputy charged with weapons violation; officials won’t release deputy’s ID
A 42-year-old East St. Louis man who was shot by a St. Clair County sheriff’s deputy early Saturday after a police pursuit was identified Monday and charged with being a felon in possession of a gun.
However, authorities still refuse to identify the deputy who shot the suspect.
Illinois State Police Lt. Calvin Brown, commander of Zone 6, referred the question about the deputy’s identity to the Sheriff’s Department.
“We won’t be releasing that at this time. It is up to the agency” (sheriff’s department, he said. “We can say that he is a veteran police officer who has worked for the Sheriff’s Department for two years.”
St. Clair County Sheriff Rick Watson said Monday the name should come from ISP, the investigating agency. He said state law prevents his department from investigating one of their own, therefore, any information should come from the State Police.
The deputy has seven years of law enforcement experience, according to St. Clair County Capt. Bruce Fleshren.
The suspect, Demetrius Ward, was charged with one count of a felon in possession of a .9mm pistol. The charge is the result of the officer-involved shooting incident that occurred shortly after midnight at 18th Street and Ridge Avenue in East St. Louis.
Police said Ward has an armed robbery conviction from 2015.
“Ward remains in a St. Louis hospital and will be transported back to St. Clair County when he is released,” Fleshren reported.
Watson said Saturday the deputy was not wearing a body camera, nor did the car have a dashboard camera.
“No, he was not wearing a body camera. And his car was the only one (in the sheriff’s fleet) without a camera.” Watson said the department was in the process of replacing a lot of their car cameras.
Fleshren said the unidentified deputy was making a routine traffic stop in East St. Louis.
“The driver stopped on a parking lot at 18th and Ridge,” according to Fleshren’s press release. During the traffic stop, the driver was shot. The deputy was not injured.
Someone at the scene shot a video of the incident and posted it on Facebook. In the video, the deputy is seen yelling, “Get out of the car, and put your hands up!”
“We are aware there is a video that has been posted online. The ISP will be made aware of it also. There is no comment on that,” Fleshren said.
This story was originally published January 21, 2019 at 1:52 PM.
