UPDATE: The victim in yesterday’s incident has been identified as 56-year-old Randy Pierson. Authorities say he resided in the Midwest.

By Jim Hagerty
Reporter

ROCKFORD — A man died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound Wednesday morning during a traffic stop on the west end of the city.

Rockford Police Chief Dan O’Shea said the incident occurred shortly before 11:30 a.m., when a Rockford officer stopped a pickup truck with a trailer headed west on Bypass 20, just west of Montague Road.

“During the course of the traffic stop, the driver produced a handgun, at which point the Rockford officer fired several rounds at the suspect while retreating,” O’Shea said.

After the suspect shot himself, the officer called for assistance, O’Shea said. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. His name has not been released.

The Illinois State Police was on the scene during the incident; the shooting is now being investigated by the Winnebago Boone Integrity Task Force.

“The Integrity Task Force will recover the video from the police cars that were there and do a thorough investigation,” O’Shea said. “As soon as they released their information, we will put it out.”

The officer who fired shots at the suspect has not been named as of this report. The officer was transported to a hospital per department protocol but was not injured. R.