Authorities Kill Knife-Wielding Suspect in Vermilion County

A car chase by authorities in two area counties Monday night led to the fatal shooting of a suspect and an investigation by Illinois State Police.

Champaign and Douglas County deputies chased the man after a Villa Grove police officer says he was assaulted in the town after investigating a suspicious vehicle. All officers followed the man out of the community to Interstate 74 to the Oakwood area. There, police stopped the vehicle using 'stop sticks' just before 11 last night. Officers say the man then got out of his car holding a knife and a machete, and were unable to subdue him with tasers. After the man initially fled on foot, deputies say he approached them with both weapons, and officers multiple shots at him in self defense. The suspect died at the scene, and an autopsy is planned for today. Vermilion County Coroner Peggy Johnson identifies him as 23-year old Ocuwatofunmi Kaiyewu of Missouri City, Texas.

Other officers at the scene were from the Vermilion County Sheriff's Office and University of Illinois Police. Three officers, Champaign County Sheriff Dan Walsh, Vermilion County Sheriff Pat Hartshorn, and U of I Chief Barbara O'Connor, were placed on paid administrative leave, which the departments say is normal procedure.