On a Sunday night in early January, Rachel Tarrence stopped in the drive-thru lane of an East St. Louis liquor store to buy cigarettes for a friend who sat beside her. Her 4-year-old son was strapped in his car seat in the back.
Seconds later, she was dying.
Those few moments, caught on police and surveillance video, captured a chaotic scene as four Illinois State Police troopers surrounded Tarrence’s vehicle. She put the car in reverse, hitting the squad car behind her. Troopers emerged from their vehicles and surrounded a panicked Tarrence, shouting conflicting orders, guns drawn and pointed at her. One trooper perceived a deadly threat and fired three shots through the windshield, fatally striking Tarrence in the chest.
A review by Capitol News Illinois found this was the only time in more than a decade that State Police used lethal force against an unarmed woman. But six months after Tarrence died at a St. Louis hospital, the public still doesn’t know whether the trooper was justified in firing those fatal shots at the 40-year-old mother of three.
The shooting occurred on Jan. 4, three days before Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, died on a Minneapolis street after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fired into her fleeing vehicle. Good was attempting to disrupt the efforts of ICE agents in detaining people without legal status in the U.S. While federal agents said Good tried to run them over at a high rate of speed, video suggested otherwise. The killing sparked national protests and spawned multiple investigations.
Good’s shooting drew nationwide condemnation, including from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who criticized the Trump administration’s characterization of Good as a domestic terrorist.
“It’s clear that this woman who was killed, this mother who was killed, was moving very slowly, not attempting to go after anybody,” Pritzker said the day after Good’s shooting.
In contrast, Tarrence’s shooting received little or no attention. No one took to the streets. The governor didn’t comment on her death. And the only investigation was launched by the same state agency that employed the trooper who fired the fatal shots — the Illinois State Police.
Months after the completion of that investigation in February, there still is no definitive answer on whether the trooper so feared for his life or the lives of others at the liquor store that the only action he could take was to shoot.
The Illinois State Police trooper who fatally shot an unarmed woman who was driving a stolen car will not face criminal charges.
St. Clair County State’s Attorney James Gomric met last week with the family of Rachel Tarrence, who was shot while in her car in the drive-thru of an East St. Louis liquor store on Jan. 4, to inform them of his decision.
In a letter of declination to the Illinois State Police, Gomric identified the trooper as Gary Blake Novack, who joined the ISP on Oct. 8, 2022. He has been a certified police officer since 2018, according to the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board.
Novack fired three shots at Tarrence, who was not armed, striking her twice. She died several hours later at a St. Louis hospital.
The ISP’s Division of Internal Investigation completed its investigation in mid-February and turned it over to Gomric’s office to determine whether Novack’s use of force was lawful. The ISP’s Division of Internal Investigation reviews all officer-involved shootings by State Police personnel, according to ISP policy.
A thorough evaluation of the shooting included “a detailed review of more than 40 hours of audio/video encompassing radio traffic, dash cam, body cam, surveillance and witness interviews. Where video footage depicted the same moment in time from different angles, the videos were viewed individually and overlapped with one another for maximum clarity of the events in terms of time and space. In addition to the digital media, my officer reviewed the reports and documents submitted by the Illinois State Police Division of Internal Investigation,” according to Gomric’s letter. […]
Tarrence had a history of mental illness, substance abuse, running from police and taking or keeping vehicles without permission, but Troy Walton, the attorney for her family, maintained the shooting was unnecessary. Walton said he anticipated Novack would be named in a civil case.
“This is an officer that has a history of excessive force. We don’t agree with the state’s attorney’s decision not to charge him criminally, but it’s not the end of this,” Walton said Monday. “A jury of 12 of his peers will decide if his use of force was excessive.”
I encourage you to read both of Beth’s stories in full.
I’ve found Hundsdorfer to be a little heavy on conspiracy theories in the past, but this seems fishy with Gomric’s obvious ties to Kelly.
And I agree, that video looks very bad. I don’t see why a stolen car arrest requires this level of engagement in the first place, and I don’t see how the officer is in any danger.
This may inevitably become another politicized or ideological argument, but it shouldn’t have to.
If the officer’s actions were justified, they should withstand the most rigorous public and legal scrutiny without fear. Rachel Tarrence’s addictions, mental illness, and criminal history may provide information or context, but they cannot be the first thing we consult before our conscience. She had three children.
The state owes every citizen the same measure of justice, especially when it takes a life.
- Excitable Boy - Wednesday, Jul 22, 26 @ 9:37 am:
I’ve found Hundsdorfer to be a little heavy on conspiracy theories in the past, but this seems fishy with Gomric’s obvious ties to Kelly.
And I agree, that video looks very bad. I don’t see why a stolen car arrest requires this level of engagement in the first place, and I don’t see how the officer is in any danger.
- Screwtape - Wednesday, Jul 22, 26 @ 9:47 am:
This may inevitably become another politicized or ideological argument, but it shouldn’t have to.
If the officer’s actions were justified, they should withstand the most rigorous public and legal scrutiny without fear. Rachel Tarrence’s addictions, mental illness, and criminal history may provide information or context, but they cannot be the first thing we consult before our conscience. She had three children.
The state owes every citizen the same measure of justice, especially when it takes a life.
- Rage - Wednesday, Jul 22, 26 @ 9:50 am:
Some of those who work forces….