By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2025-03-20 21:42:51 | Updated at 2025-04-05 06:46:08
2 weeks ago
Two cops who shot dead a drug-addled, chainsaw-wielding madman at an Illinois senior living home last December have been cleared of wrongdoing.
Daniel Escalera, 41, faced down the officers while he was hopped up on an overdose of methamphetamines and revving up a chainsaw at the River Glen senior living facility in St. Charles, roughly 40 miles west of Chicago.
The officers first tried to taser him — but were then forced to shoot him multiple times when he refused to stop his rampage, according to officials and bodycam footage shared by the Illinois State Police.
An investigation into the deadly shooting found no wrongdoing on the part of the officers and was closed, the Kane County State Attorney’s Office announced on Tuesday in a statement shared on Facebook.
The officer “had the reasonable belief that the deadly force he employed was necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or other individuals,” Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser said.
The disturbing video of the Dec. 1, 2024 incident began with an officer responding to a call of a man wielding a chainsaw at the facility.
The taser-wielding officer confronted Escalera as he stood in the doorway to the cafeteria in front of terrified residents, demanding he drop the chainsaw.
Suddenly, Escalera started the chainsaw, before the officer deployed his taser, striking him in the chest and knocking him down briefly.
But Escalera got back to his feet and grabbed the chainsaw before running at the officer, who retreated into the lobby where he was joined by a second cop.
As both officers ran back into the cafeteria, a third followed Escalera through a secondary doorway, at which point the attacker held the chainsaw over his head and charged at him.
The officer fired two shots which both missed, before Escalera struck him with the chainsaw before dropping it.
Another officer fired a third shot hitting Escalera in the arm, before a fourth hit him in the chest, at which point he collapsed to the ground and was put in handcuffs.
Escalera was later pronounced dead in hospital after the shocking scenes on December 21, 2024.
He was found to have methamphetamine intoxication at the time of his death, and toxicology reports showed the presence of amphetamines, methamphetamines and olanzapine, according to the Kane County Coroner’s Office.
“I first want to thank the St. Charles police officers for acting to de-escalate the situations before being forced to resort to the deadly use of force,” Mosser said.
“My thanks also to the Illinois State Police for their diligent and thorough investigation into this incident, and to the Kane County Coroner’s Office and the St. Charles Police Department for providing critical support and transparency throughout this process”.
