Officer-Involved Shooting At Savoy Apartments Under Investigation

Multiple police agencies are investigating an early morning incident in Savoy in which two police exchanged gunfire with a shooter. 

Two men received non-life threatening injuries in Village at Colbert Park apartment complex around 1 a.m. Thursday, and one of whom was arrested on weapons charges. 

A news release from University of Illinois Police and Champaign County Sheriff’s Department indicates officers responded to numerous 911 calls of screams and people running from one of the buildings.   When police arrived at 1:17 a.m., they heard a number of shots and saw a man firing a gun.

Two U of I officers, identified as Douglas Beckman and Nathanial Park, fired their weapons.  Neither was hurt, but both will be on paid leave during the investigation.

An officer from tolono wal also among the first to arrive on the scene, but did not fire any shots.

Two injured men were captured as they attempted to leave the scene.  19-year old Wayne Colson of Urbana was arrested and taken to the Champaign County Jail on charges of unlawful use of a weapon and aggravated discharge of a firearm.   There’s no information regarding the second man who was shot.

The source of the bullets that injured the two men hasn’t been determined.   A handgun and multiple shell casings were found at the scene.

The U of I squad car that responded to the call is equipped with a video recorder, and portions of the incident were captured on tape.

Champaign County’s Multi-Jurisdictional Team was brought in to investigate the incident, which includes the Champaign County Sheriff’s Department, and police from Champaign, Urbana, Mahomet, Parkland College, the U of I,  and Rantoul.

UPDATE 12:30 Friday -  In an e-mail to media, Champaign County Sheriff Dan Walsh said it will be ‘several days’ before investigators have a full and accurate picture of what occurred during the exchange of gunfire.  He declined further comment, saying he didn't want to speculate.

Savoy Village Manager Dick Helton says there have prior reports of fights at the apartment complex in the past 3 or 4 years, but nothing like what happened there Thursday   Helton said he’s confident authorities will be sure nothing like this happens again.