The family of Jack Murray (left), a 24-year-old Elk Grove Village resident who was fatally shot by police Dec. 1, has filed a civil lawsuit against Elk Grove Village and its police department. Family members pictured are (from left) brother, Ryan; mother, Donna; father, Tom; and sister, Shannon. (Photo courtesy of Romanucci & Blandin)

A civil lawsuit has been filed in connection with the police shooting death of a 24-year-old man in Elk Grove Village.

Officers knew that Jack Murray, an Elk Grove Village resident, had a history of emotional distress, and they violated their crisis intervention training, according to lawyers for the Murray family. They said police made numerous negligent decisions that both violated the policies and norms of reasonable policing and common sense, and led to the withholding of appropriate care for the victim.

Murray was shot Dec. 1, just a few doors away from the Murray family home and in plain view of his parents, lawyers for Romanucci & Blandin said.

The lawyers for the family said Elk Grove police shot five times 90 seconds after initially approaching Jack Murray, a Type 1 diabetic, who was disorientated and slurring his words

“In a minute and a half, the time it takes to brush your teeth or pick out a shirt and button it up,

Elk Grove Village police went from calling out to Jack Murray to shooting him five times,” said Antonio Romanucci, founding partner of Romanucci & Blandin. “The tragedy is that Jack was extremely disoriented, in emotional distress and was stumbling and slurring his words. He was not able to hurt anyone; and the officers on the scene had helped Jack before and knew he occasionally needed their assistance and medical care.

“Instead of following their crisis intervention training and giving him time and physical space to de-escalate and assess the situation, officers instead used deadly force. Their decisions and impatience cost this young man his life, and forever changed the lives of his family. Our firm, unfortunately, sees tragic outcomes like this too often because police fail to reasonably manage calls involving citizens in emotional distress.”

Family members said Elk Grove police had helped Murray with prior diabetic episodes of emotional distress.

When Jack Murray was unable to fully answer questions from the 911 dispatcher in the Dec, 1 incident, Murray’s father, Tom, repeatedly stated that his son needed help, according to lawyers.

“Jack was intelligent, caring, always curious about learning new things, and an incredibly kind person. He was a student at Wright College, working toward his dream of helping people in the medical field,” his mother, Donna, said. “His heart and soul were larger than life.

“However, he was in emotional distress when he called Elk Grove Village police that day. EGV police decided to make an extraordinarily hasty and deadly decision that took our son’s life, and the way they did it should scare everyone. This could be one of your family members or a friend.

“What went wrong that day? Who decided to fire and fire so many shots? This should have never happened. They took our son, our buddy, our friend, a large part of our life. I am asking our friends and neighbors to stand together for ‘Justice for Jack.’

“The Murray family will be moving forward to find ways so this doesn’t happen to anyone else. How can we make changes so that our people and communities are safe?”

In the days immediately following the Jack Murray tragedy, lawyers noted, Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson stated, “Elk Grove Village police officers who responded to the incident… had a combination of crisis intervention team training, mental health training, and de-escalation training.”

That statement, however, makes Murray’s death even more tragic because officers on the scene were trained in multiple ways yet chose to ignore that training at Jack’s expense, lawyers for the family said.

According to Murray’s family, Jack was a Type 1 diabetic, and he was readily aware of the impact the disease had on his physical and mental health. While not all people experience Type 1 diabetes in the same ways, Jack experienced both physical and emotional distress with his

diagnosis, his family said, noting that in the past, Jack had routinely called upon the Elk Grove Village Police Department, asking for help when he felt as though his own health and wellness may be in danger. Murray would occasionally check himself into a hospital for the same reason, his family said.

It is the understanding of the Murray family that, on Dec. 1, Jack called police again, which ultimately resulted in five officers responding to the call and, within minutes of their arrival, Jack had been shot multiple times, resulting in his death.

As the complaint details, the officers’ body camera footage indicates their first approach of Murray was after 04:33 p.m. and at 4:35 p.m. officers called in for medical assistance because they had fired multiple shots at him.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday, May 29 in the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Plaintiff in the case is Donna Murray, Jack’s mother, and, in the litigation, she brings forth her own individual claim, as well as the claims of Jack’s estate, in her capacity as the estate’s independent administrator.

The defendants are Elk Grove Village, a municipal corporation; and “John Doe” Elk Grove Village police officers 1-5, both in their individual capacity and as agents of Elk Grove Village.

Counts in the complaint include willful and wanton, wrongful death; willful and wanton, survival action; battery, wrongful death; battery, survival action on behalf of the estate of Jack Murray; and intentional infliction of emotional distress on behalf of the plaintiff.

The complaint demands a jury trial and asks that the jury determine a dollar amount for compensatory damages, punitive damages, pre-judgment and post-judgment interest as allowable by law and as ordered by the court, attorney fees, reasonable costs and such other relief that the court deems just and equitable.

“Our civil complaint painstakingly details officers’ use of excessive force on Jack, a known emotionally distressed person, and their failure to employ any effective de-escalation tactics to preserve Jack’s life and get him the assistance he needed,” said attorney Javier Rodriguez Jr. “The Elk Grove Police Department and its officers had prior encounters with this young man and knew, or should have known, that Jack would experience episodes of emotional distress.

“Though Jack’s family continues to grieve his loss, they remain steadfast in their call for justice, and it is their firm belief that no family ought to experience the loss that they have been forced to endure on account of the village of Elk Grove and its Police Department.”

Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson could not be reached for comment as of press time.