Nearly one month ago, a police chase ended at the Kum and Shop convenience store on 11th Street in Rock Island. The chase turned into a confrontation and ended in the shooting of Deshawn Tatum by Rock Island police officers on April 1st, 2021.
The four officers involved have been cleared as the Rock Island County State's Attorney Dora Villarreal ruled their actions were justified that day.
In a statement, Villarreal decided that the officers were justified in shooting Tatum as he put officers in harms way, stealing a bystander's car, putting it in reverse and dragging officers.
In those moments, body camera footage shows Tatum attempting to take an officer's gun. The entire incident unfolded very quickly at the start of the month when Tatum was a wanted suspect on federal and state warrants.
Davenport Attorney Eric Puryear says he saw the video and analysis from the State's Attorney's office and he says just because officers were justified under the law to fatally shoot Tatum doesn't mean it was necessary in the moment.
"This is a case where I can't help but wonder if de-escalation (and) decisions to not use deadly force could've been made," Puryear says.
He says he believes situations like this could have a different ending, and the facts could play out later in court.
"In general terms, I would say if a suspect is attempting to flee, if they're known by police and can be found later, it usually makes a lot more sense to catch up later and do so in a less crowded and dangerous area," Puryear says.
He says the facts could play out later in court.
"Our goal as a society should not be if someone does something bad they should be killed," Puryear says. "Rather, it should be lets see what we can do to keep people safe and bring accountability through the legal system where there can be a fair trial and be punishment that's proportionate to what happened, not just summary execution."
Puryear says just because Tatum was a wanted man by police, it didn't need to end with his death.
"If a death can be avoided, it should be avoided," he says.
Puryear says he believes in situations like this, de-escalation practices can help save a life; not just of the suspect, but including police officers and bystanders.
The Rock Island County State's Attorney and Police Department declined to comment further after this video and decision was released.