The state’s attorney has cleared sheriff’s deputies who shot and wounded a man after he allegedly fired a rifle at a sheriff’s deputy in April in Harvard.
Randall B. Little, 58, of the 19900 block of Streit Road in Harvard, was charged on April 27 with armed violence, aggravated intimidation of a peace officer, two counts of felon in possession of a firearm, intimidation, threatening a public official, unlawful use of a weapon, two counts of aggravated assault and unauthorized possession of cannabis sativa plants.
He was additionally charged on May 3 with attempted first-degree murder, a Class X felony.
The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office responded to Little’s residence in the 19900 block of Streit Road in unincorporated Harvard around 8 p.m. April 1 after receiving a call to check on the wellbeing of a subject.
Little was allegedly armed with a .300 caliber blackout short barrel rifle, according to a criminal complaint filed in McHenry County Circuit Court.
Little pointed the rifle at McHenry County Sheriff’s Deputy Gabriela Valencia and threatened to kill her if she did not leave his property, the complaint said.
Court documents initially said Little only pointed the gun at the deputy, but on May 3 prosecutors approved an attempted murder charge against the man and investigators said in court documents that he did discharge the firearm.
McHenry County sheriff’s deputies Christopher Naatz and Trevor Vogel, along with Valencia, all discharged their weapons at Little.
No deputies were injured during the incident.
Lifesaving measures were given to the man and he was transported by the Harvard Fire Protection District to Mercyhealth Hospital in Harvard, the sheriff’s office said.
He was then flown to Javon Bea Hospital in Rockford where he was in critical condition.
Little suffered multiple gunshot wounds but survived his injuries, prosecutors said.
The McHenry County Major Investigation Assistance Team (MIAT) was requested to conduct an investigation into the incident.
Investigators also found Little in possession of more than 50 cannabis sativa plants, court documents show.
On Wednesday, the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office released an initial report on the incident.
The state’s attorney said that Naatz, Valencia and Vogel were justified in firing their weapons based on a review of the evidence.
“While we understand that the use of deadly force by law enforcement officers, the ultimate act of state authority, is a matter of unprecedented national scrutiny and that full transparency is essential to maintaining the public trust in the justice system, in view of the ongoing criminal proceedings against Little alongside the following Supreme Court Rules, we are unable to disclose more at this time,” the state’s attorney’s office said in a statement.
A full state attorney’s office report on the shooting will be made public after Little’s criminal case concludes.
McHenry County Sheriff’s Deputy Kevin Byrnes said the sheriff’s office took Little into custody on May 3.
Little was arrested at a rehabilitation hospital in Rockford and transported to the McHenry County Jail.
McHenry County Judge Tiffany Davis ordered Little held on a $500,000 bond. He would need to post $50,000 cash in order to be released.