Shot In Neck By Joliet Police: Man Sued Mayor O'Dekirk In 2020 (2024)

Jamal Smith was the co-plaintiff who sued Joliet police and Mayor O'Dekirk for excessive force after 2020 Black Lives Matter demonstrations.

Posted Tue, Apr 11, 2023 at 8:15 am CT|Updated Tue, Apr 11, 2023 at 11:24 am CT

That summer, Smith and another man sued the Joliet police and Mayor Bob O'Dekirk, accusing them of excessive force and violating their civil rights. Last February, Joliet Patch broke the news, revealing that Smith and Victor Williams received a total settlement of $93,000 that they would share and split with the two Chicago lawyers who represented them.

This week, the 31-year-old Smith is fighting for his life. He was airlifted to the Loyola Medical Center in Maywood, after Joliet police officers shot him in the neck Saturday during a domestic disturbance. He also suffered at least one more gunshot wound.

On Monday, a source told Joliet Patch the shooting was captured on video, including body camera footage from the two Joliet police officers involved in shooting at Smith. It was unclear whether one or both of the officers shot Smith.

A third officer was on the scene, but they were just arriving in a backup capacity.

The source said the shooting happened "within seconds" of the first two Joliet police officers, who were partners, arriving at the apartment complex disturbance call around 4:45 a.m.

"It was seconds, literally, it was seconds," the source said.

Smith fired his gun first, shooting in the direction of the woman he was in a loud argument with, according to the source. A news release issued by Joliet police Saturday morning said officers discharged their weapons after they "encountered a male adult actively firing a handgun."

Both shootings happened outside.

Smith was standing near apartment 931, and he was firing his gun toward the woman near the doorway of apartment 935, the source noted. Smith's gunshots did not strike the woman.

"We don't know where his shots went," the source said. "He was firing at her, at the baby's mother, and the gun was still present laying next to him at the scene after he was shot, and that's all on camera as well."

One of Smith's cousins, who was interviewed last weekend by ABC Channel 7 in Chicago, said Smith and his daughter's mother got into an argument.

"This has been a domestic dispute. The baby mother's called officers saying she wanted her baby back from him," Shakera Harrison told ABC Channel 7. "He had the baby with him, so she wanted her daughter (and) he wouldn't give her her daughter, and she called the officers."

Smith suffered at least two gunshots when he was shot by police, including one bullet to his neck, the source told Patch.

The shooting is now being handled by an independent police agency, the Will-Grundy Major Crimes Task Force, which was led by Romeoville Police Chief Ken Kroll in recent years.

Joliet Patch asked its source whether they believe the Joliet police shooting was justified.

"Oh, absolutely," the source replied. "The shooting appears to be justified."

It remains unclear whether Smith will recover. Channel 7 reported that Smith was hospitalized on life support.

If he does make a recovery, Joliet Patch's source said they expect Smith will be transferred from the hospital to the Will County Jail, where he would face multiple criminal charges stemming from his own culpability in last weekend's shooting and domestic disturbance.

It's been three years since Smith became a high-profile local figure, in the aftermath of Joliet's Black Lives Matter demonstrations after the killing of George Floyd murder.

According to Joliet Patch's past coverage, Mayor O'Dekirk's confrontation with Smith and Victor Williams happened following the May 31, 2020, Black Lives Matter demonstration near the White Castle restaurant on Larkin Avenue and Jefferson Street.

"I was confronted by a rioter, then attacked," O'Dekirk told Patch in 2020. "Using standard police tactics to immobilize the attacker by separating him from the crowd and walking him backwards toward police officers, I was jumped from behind by a second attacker. They were arrested — unharmed — and are subject to a bond hearing and criminal trial. Unlike many Joliet first responders protecting Joliet that night, I was lucky enough to walk away with just a few bruises."

In 2020, Smith and Williams filed separate federal lawsuits accusing O'Dekirk and Joliet police of false arrest/unlawful detention, failure to intervene, malicious prosecution, conspiracy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Williams and Smith were arrested by Joliet police at 12:36 a.m. on June 1, 2020, at 1601 W. Jefferson St. on charges of aggravated assault and mob action.

The Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow later dismissed the criminal charges against Williams and Smith and chose not to prosecute them.

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

$93,000 Settlement In Lawsuit Against Joliet Mayor O'Dekirk

Mayor O'Dekirk, Joliet Police Sued For Actions On Night Of Riots

Mayor O'Dekirk Scuffle: Charges Dropped Against 2 Men