DeKalb police shoot a suspect after stabbing a car dealership

DEKALB, Ill. (WIFR) – The suspect in a Wednesday afternoon stabbing at a DeKalb car dealership is in the hospital after being shot by police.

At approximately 12:30 p.m. on Oct. 23, DeKalb police said officers were called to Brian Bemis Toyota of DeKalb, 1890 Sycamore Rd., for a report of a disorderly customer.

According to witnesses, a customer was upset about a transaction at the car dealership and pulled out a knife. According to police, the suspect began attacking dealership employees, with one employee suffering a non-life-threatening stab wound to “an extremity.”

When officers arrived, the suspect refused to drop the knife and walked toward them, according to police. Police shot the suspect, who was then flown to a hospital in Rockford for medical treatment. According to authorities, the suspect is in stable condition and is expected to survive. DeKalb police are not releasing the identity of the suspect.

The stabbed employee was treated at the scene and released.

Harold Drake was in the area when he learned of the stabbing. He’s relieved to know his sister-in-law, who works at the car dealership and was on break, is doing well, but he’s sad that something like this is happening in the county he’s called home most of his life.

“We don’t normally see anything like this here,” says Drake. “It seems like those two things have come up. That makes you wonder.”

The officer-involved shooting Wednesday afternoon is the second in less than 24 hours involving police in DeKalb County. Early Wednesday morning, DeKalb County officers shot and killed a man after a chase escalated into a standoff and possibly a hostage situation.

“The fact that two relatively significant incidents occurred on the same day is obviously rare, but I certainly wouldn’t attribute it to a crime epidemic,” said Chad McNett, DeKalb Police Dept. patrol commander.

DeKalb police say the Illinois State Police will conduct an independent investigation, which is standard protocol for officer-involved shootings.

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