September Beanbag Shooting Death

The Coroner’s Inquest into the death of David Maxson last September was held this afternoon at the McHenry County Government Center. It was due to start at 1:00PM, and the jury was seated shortly thereafter. A few minutes later Coroner Marlene Lantz informed those assembled that she was waiting for a witness. A few minutes after that, she explained that the scheduled court reporter hadn’t shown up and that a substitute court reporter was coming from McHenry.

The procedure for an inquest is described by the Office of the Coroner as an “inquiry into the manner and cause of an individual’s death.” David Maxson, 43, died as the result of being shot on September 16, 2006, with a beanbag shotgun, referred to in police lingo as a “less-than-lethal” weapon. The McHenry County Sheriff’s Department had received two 9-1-1 calls that Maxson was suicidal. The first witness was his fiancée, with whom he lived in Wonder Lake. She described that she had been worried at Maxson’s suicidal statements and actions.

The Coroner’s information explains that “The Coroner will summon to the inquest those individuals who have pertinent information concerning the incident. This often includes, but is not limited to, … police officers and investigators…” The second and only other witness was Lt. Donald Carlson of the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department. No deputy or supervisor who was at the scene at the time of the shooting appeared to testify. Lt. Carlson provided a summary of actions taken by deputies at the scene, but the jury did not have an opportunity to hear first-hand reports from one or more deputies who were directly involved, and they did not have an opportunity to ask questions of those with first-hand knowledge.

The first deputy to arrive was a Crisis-Intervention Trained deputy. I watched her work in another incident, and she is a competent deputy on a mental health call. When Maxson’s emotional level escalated, she was removed as the lead negotiator and the (male) sergeant on the scene took over. Prior to that, Maxson had given up two of the three knives he had been holding, so the CIT deputy was making progress. Although Maxson reportedly threatened deputies, he also is quoted in a report as saying that he could not hurt a female (deputy). Should she have been allowed to continue as the lead negotiator?

It has been a couple of weeks since I’ve read the 12 reports that I obtained under a Freedom of Information request. I’ll be re-reading them and comparing today’s summary of what happened with the reports of the deputies who were there. I have filed a second Freedom of Information Act request to learn the date when the deputy who fired the less-than-lethal shotgun was trained and certified by the Sheriff’s Department. This request was initially denied by the Sheriff’s Department’s FOI officer, who cited “personnel files and information maintained with respect to employees” as being confidential. However, Illinois Freedom of Information law [5 ILCS 140/7(1)(b)] states, “The disclosure of information that bears on the public duties of public employees and officials shall not be considered an invasion of personal privacy." An appeal of the denial has been filed with the Sheriff, and I am awaiting the decision and deputy's date of certification.

I don’t question that the deputy had to shoot when he did. If someone is coming at me or going at you with a knife, I’m going to shoot. The difference is, with what I am going to shoot, or whether some other method of disabling the person with the knife could have been used.

Shortly after this incident back in September I began posting online questions and comments in response to articles appearing in the Northwest Herald. At one point there were more than 200 reader comments. Then they all disappeared. The explanation given to me was that the paper’s server crashed. They were never restored. Because of my law enforcement background and experience with the mental health system in McHenry County, I am anxious that a similar result not occur during a future emergency response by law enforcement, unless it is absolutely the only remaining possibility.

Could this situation have been de-escalated? Did Maxson have to be challenged repeatedly to the extent that it got so bad that he finally rushed toward two deputies with the apparent intent to harm? What would have happened if they had backed off and waited him out? The Coroner reported that his Blood-Alcohol Content was 2.41, and there were no illegal drugs in his body. Obviously, a high BAC and depression are not a good combination.

From the time of arrival of the first deputy at 4:07PM to the time of the shooting at about 4:53PM, only 46 minutes passed. Not a lot of time…