Family of East Peoria man questions shooting
Patrick Oldendorf/JS
Posted Dec 16, 2009 @ 08:46 AM
Last update Dec 16, 2009 @ 10:57 PM
EAST PEORIA —
The family of the man fatally shot by East Peoria police Tuesday is searching for answers to their questions about the tragedy.
"We want to know why they shot him and killed him," said Kathy Wolf, the man's mother-in-law, on Wednesday. "Why couldn't they shoot him in the arms or the legs like they do everywhere else to (criminals such as) murders?"
Samuel Craft, 48, of 116 Sun Valley Court, Apt. C2, was pronounced dead at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria about 8 p.m. Tuesday.
At a news conference Wednesday, East Peoria Police Chief Ed Papis commended his officers for showing "great" restraint.
Craft was armed with a knife and a three-foot sword and was within 10 feet of the officers when they opened fire, Papis said. He was ordered several times to put his weapons down prior to the gunfire. Three shots were fired by two officers. Papis declined to name the officers or say how long they had been with the department.
All three bullets hit the man, one each in the head, abdomen and arm.
Officers are trained to shoot when a person with a knife is within 21 feet because it takes only seconds to cover that distance, Papis said.
But Micke Craft, the slain man's wife, said she still didn't understand the officers' decisions to use lethal force.
"They should have shot him in the knees . . . not fatally like they did," she said.
Police were called to the Sun Valley Apartments, 116 Sun Valley Court, about 6 p.m. Tuesday after a 911 caller reported a man was holding a sword standing outside and threatening to kill people. Officers arrived on the scene within minutes.
The reason Samuel Craft ignored commands to drop his weapons wasn't clear to police on Wednesday. He had tried to commit suicide in 2003, Micke Craft said. He also had a history with the police, but Papis declined to comment on what that history was.
The shooting is now being investigated by the Illinois State Police, a common practice in officer-involved shootings. Once that investigation is complete, the report will go to Stewart Umholtz, Tazewell County state's attorney, for review. Papis said that all preliminary reports show his officers made the right, and legal, decision to open fire.
Samuel Craft had the sword as a collector's item, his wife said.
Before the shooting, Samuel Craft, who worked as a welder at Caterpillar Inc. and in the kitchen at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, was known as a kind, caring man, and his family says that's how he'll be remembered.
"He was always there to help," Micke Craft said. "No matter what, he was willing to help out. He was just kind and compassionate."
That sentiment was echoed by Craft's neighbors.
"He was always helping people out with their cars," said Michael Hampton, a resident of the Sun Valley Apartments. "That's how I knew him, he'd come and help me with my car."
Craft's handiwork seemed a well-known trait around the Sun Valley Apartments.
"He seemed like a nice fellow," said Rick Meyer, Samuel Craft's neighbor. "He did a lot of wood working and was always outside working on stuff with his boys."
The Crafts have four sons, 18, 9, 7, and 1, and Samuel Craft was always there for them.
"He always made sure his boys had everything they needed, even if it meant that he would go with nothing," mother-in-law Wolf said. "One year I called and told him that it was getting cold and that the kids needed new coats. He went out and bought them right away, and not the cheap ones, either."
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