‘Stopping the threat’: Metro-east cop shoots murder suspect outside nightclub
An off-duty Washington Park officer who was working as a security guard shot the suspect in a fatal shooting outside a nightclub, Illinois State Police said.
Donovan Davis, 27, of St. Charles, Missouri, faces a first-degree murder charge in connection with the killing of 26-year-old Mark Morris Jr. of St. Louis County on May 12.
After Morris was shot, an off-duty Washington Park police officer then shot Davis. He is being credited with “stopping the threat,” according to an Illinois State Police news release. The officer’s name has not been released.
Morris was pronounced dead at the scene at 4:30 a.m. May 12 in the 2200 block of North Kingshighway in Washington Park. Davis was treated for non-life-threatening injuries in the shooting outside a nightclub.
Morris’ death is the fourth homicide this year in Washington Park, according to reports published in the Belleville News-Democrat.
Along with the murder charge filed Thursday, Davis also was charged with unlawful use of a weapon.
A detention hearing for Davis is scheduled for Friday. He is being held in the St. Clair County Jail.
Illinois judges have been conducting detention hearings since September 2023 for people charged with serious offenses. If a judge considers a person dangerous to the community, the person can be remanded to the county jail until their trial, according to the revamped criminal justice system that eliminated cash bail as part of the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today, or SAFE-T, Act.
The Washington Park Police Department requested assistance from Illinois State Police in this homicide investigation.
