Naperville Police officer shoots and kills man who charged at him with a hatchet
NAPERVILLE, Ill. (CBS) -- A Naperville police officer shot and killed a man, after police say he charged at the officer with a hatchet during a traffic stop Friday morning.
Police said the officer was conducting a traffic stop near Bond Street and McDowell Road -- just east of Route 59 -- around 11 a.m., when a different driver pulled up next to the officer, and a man exited the vehicle with a hatchet in his hand.
The man charged at the officer, who fired their weapon.
The man with the hatchet, who was in his 20s, was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. We are still waiting to learn the man's identity while police notify his family.
Witnesses said they heard four shots ring out before the man with the hatchet dropped to the ground.
We spoke with a witness who was moving into an office steps away from where the incident happened.
"When we first pulled up, I was like, we're moving. I hope no one that we know is injured – what is going on?" said Tom Sanderson. "He came after the police officer with what appears to be a hatchet, and my coworkers heard four shots."
Sanderson said it was surprising to find such a thing happening in Naperville.
"I live in Chicago. So I guess I can't say I'm used to this. This is obviously strange, but it does seem strange to come up to Naperville, and then I feel like I took some of the crime with me from the city," he said.
The officer who shot the man, a 22-year veteran of the Naperville Police Department, was not injured, police said.
Police released an image from the officer's body camera, showing the man with the hatchet in his hand.
The DuPage County Metropolitan Emergency Response and Investigative Team (MERIT) and the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office are investigating independently. The investigations could take weeks.
