Suspect in Dupo shootings had lengthy criminal record. He killed himself in his garage
A Dupo police officer wounded Sunday while responding to a street where a man was shot to death was in critical but stable condition Monday, and police confirmed that the suspect in the two shootings died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The 49-year-old officer, whose name was not released at the request of his family, is a 12-year law-enforcement veteran who was shot in his shoulder, authorities said in a news conference Monday.
Dupo Police Chief Dennis Plew said the officer had already had at least one surgery.
“The outcome looks good. He’s looking at more surgeries down the road,” Plew said. “His family is very upbeat about it but of course very sad about what happened.
“It appears at this point in time he should have a full recovery; it’s just going to be over a long, long period of time,” Plew said.
Darryl T. Mantz, 46, died in the shooting that prompted the Dupo officer to respond to 457 McBride Ave., which is in unincorporated St. Clair County near Dupo. His last known address was in Belleville, St. Clair County Coroner Calvin Dye Sr. told the BND.
Reginald O. Allen, 40, was the suspect in the shooting of the officer and Mantz, according to a statement from Master Sgt. Brad Clossen, who is the chief of investigations for the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department.
Allen was found dead in his garage at 769 McBride Ave. by Illinois State Police SWAT officers on Sunday night about eight hours after the Dupo officer had been shot.
Investigators said Allen used an AR-15 rifle to shoot himself and Mantz. They also believe this was the weapon used to shoot the officer but that had not been confirmed. Authorities were trying to determine where Allen obtained the rifle.
Clossen said Allen was previously charged in connection with a death at a strip club in 2009 in St. Clair County when a man was fatally struck by a pickup truck in the parking lot.
Allen, who was a bouncer for the club, pleaded guilty to mob action in 2015, and in 2016 was given a one-year prison sentence, according to Belleville News-Democrat reports on the court case. The reckless homicide charge against Allen had been dismissed.
Allen was accused of fatally striking Anthony Rice Jr., 23. A prosecutor said Allen “lit the fuse” by throwing a rock or a brick through the windshield of a Monte Carlo that Rice and his brother were in. This led to a melee where shots were fired into the air, causing Allen to flee in his Ford F-150 pick-up truck, running over and killing Rice, according the BND reports.
“He’s had a lengthy criminal history in St. Clair County,” Clossen said during the news conference convened at the sheriff’s department office in Belleville. “Law enforcement in this area is very familiar with him.”
Investigators don’t know why Allen shot Mantz, but police said Allen and Mantz had worked together in home remodeling and construction.
“They knew each other,” Clossen said. “They worked together. It is still undetermined from our investigation what the motive was.”
While the sheriff’s office is overseeing the investigation of Mantz’s death, Illinois State Police was asked to investigate the shooting of the police officer. A spokesman for the ISP did not have have new information to release on Monday.
Police release details of shootings
Clossen gave this account of what happened Sunday:
The sheriff’s department received a report at 1:18 p.m. that shots had been fired at 457 McBride Ave. in unincorporated St. Clair County near Dupo and a person was down in the front yard.
The sheriff’s department asked for assistance from surrounding agencies, and a Dupo officer was the first officer to arrive.
The officer saw the suspect, later identified as Allen, walking south on McBride Avenue as the officer got out of his patrol vehicle.
“The officer engaged with the suspect in the roadway of McBride Avenue and was shot by the suspect outside of his vehicle,” Clossen said in a statement.
Clossen said he did not know if the officer fired his weapon.
“The suspect then took the officer’s patrol vehicle and drove north on McBride Avenue,” Clossen said in his statement. “The suspect then headed south on McBride Avenue and drove the stolen patrol vehicle to his residence” at 769 McBride Ave. and parked it in the back of his driveway by a detached garage.
A Cahokia Heights police officer arrived as the suspect left in the stolen patrol vehicle and gave aid to the Dupo officer, who was taken to a St. Louis hospital.
It was determined that Mantz had died from his wounds.
Clossen said Mantz was known to visit the McBride Avenue neighborhood where he was shot but he did not live there.
Officers from multiple agencies then formed a perimeter around Allen’s home.
A search warrant was obtained for Allen’s home and about 9:20 p.m. , the Illinois State Police SWAT officers and the Special Response Team from the Belleville Police Department and the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department began “breaching” the home.
The officers did not find Allen in the home.
Both teams then repositioned to breach the garage. When they went in, they saw Allen’s body on the floor.
A Bobcat recovered at the scene was processed by Illinois State Police. Clossen said investigators were trying to find out whether it had anything to do with the shooting.
Before Allen’s body was found, he was charged with murder/intent to kill or injure and his bail had been set at $2 million by Judge Patrick Foley.
Plew, the Dupo chief, was asked about the danger police officers face when responding to crime scenes.
“It is a danger and everybody that gets into this profession, they know that going into it,” he said.
He also thanked all of the officers from across the region and family members of police officers who have assisted the Dupo Police Department.
Plew said his officers had not yet been able to speak to the officer who was shot.
This story was originally published February 27, 2023 at 2:26 PM.
