The Evanston man killed by a police officer Sunday died of multiple gunshot wounds, a medical examiner has determined after conducting an autopsy.
The death of Desrick York, 32, of 1810 Church St., is officially being ruled a homicide, said David Foley, executive director of the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. A homicide technically means the killing of one human by another.
“It definitely was not an accident,” said Foley, who declined to say exactly how many gunshots York sustained. “The police must have been very scared.”
The shooting occurred after three Evanston Police Department officers responded to a landlord-tenant dispute in a Church Street house Sunday afternoon.
The tenant, York, was armed with a knife and had apparently threatened others in the building, according to a statement released by the EPD on Monday. York ignored verbal commands to drop the knife and one of the officers received a serious hand injury in the altercation.
Police shot and killed York. Multiple witnesses at the scene reported hearing five gunshots, but that information has not been confirmed. It is also unclear how many officers fired their weapons and how many shots each officer fired.
The Illinois State Police Public Integrity Unit is investigating the incident, said Detective Bob Hunt, who is conducting the investigation.
The investigation will look into whether “the officer did or did not have the lawful authority to use deadly force,” Hunt said. While it is not legally required, the EPD has a policy of automatically calling the unit to investigate every police use of force, said Hunt, who emphasized that it is not a “misconduct investigation.”
The investigation could take up to four weeks. EPD has declined to comment until its conclusion.
