Three Rockford police officers on leave after deadly officer-involved shooting

Online Staff Report

Three Rockford police officers have been put on administrative leave, per department procedure, following a deadly officer-involved shooting near South Central Avenue and Cypress Terrace in Rockford Oct. 11.

Officers responded to a call from a family member of the eventual victim, 18-year-old Logan Thomas Bell, at about 2 p.m., Oct. 11. The family member said they were concerned about the welfare of the 18-year-old, who they believed may have been armed.

Logan Thomas Bell was a relative of former Rockford Ald. Victory Bell. Victory Bell said Logan Thomas Bell was his cousin’s grandson.

Police located the man matching the description, and Logan Thomas Bell reportedly ran from officers. Police then pursued him.

Rockford Police Chief Chet Epperson has not disclosed whether the victim had a weapon or fired a weapon. Residents in the area reported hearing as many as 10 gunshots.

Investigation into the shooting has been turned over to the Winnebago County Integrity Task Force, headed by Illinois State Police Lt. Kurt Cavanaugh.

Epperson has contacted the president of the local NAACP chapter, which is standard when an officer-involved shooting involves a minority. The procedure became protocol following the 2009 police-involved shooting death of 23-year-old Mark Anthony Barmore. Barmore, who was unarmed, was fatally shot by police after attempting to flee from officers in a boiler room in the basement of a downtown church day care.

Posted Oct. 12, 2012