Carol Stream Police Officers Will Not Be Charged in Isaac Goodlow Shooting – NBC Chicago

The DuPage County State's Attorney will not file criminal charges against Carol Stream police officers in the shooting death of 30-year-old Isaac Goodlow earlier this year.

According to a news release from State's Attorney Robert Berlin, the office will not file charges against Officer Daniel Pfingston or two other officers who entered the residence during the February shooting.

Pfingston was one of two police officers placed on paid leave after the shooting, which took place on February 3.

According to authorities, police were called to a residence after receiving reports of a “domestic violence incident.” Officers were allowed entry into the residence by a woman who alleged Goodlow attacked her during the incident, and a single shot was fired during the ensuing confrontation, hitting Goodlow in the chest .

He was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Footage of the incident was released in March, but Goodlow's family claimed the video was “blurred and edited” and requested that the unedited footage be released due to what they called “false story” surrounding the shooting.

“It was disheartening and a breach of trust for the family to see the body camera footage that was made public,” said Avasia Pigram, a cousin of Goodlow. “It was untruthful and pushed a false narrative that Isaac Goodlow incited the officers to commit suicide.”

Relatives also said police pulled Goodlow over and shot him while he was in bed.

(Warning: The following video may be disturbing to some viewers. Discretion is advised) Carol Stream police released body camera footage Friday showing the fatal shooting of a 30-year-old man during what was described as a “tense and uncertain” domestic violence call. , although family members said Isaac Goodlow III was ambushed moments before his death.

Berlin denied the allegations, saying that at the family's request the images were given to Motorola Solutions. An audit was conducted and the investigation determined that the video had “neither been altered nor modified,” according to the Berlin office.

The investigation also concluded that crime scene photos did not show blood on the bed and that video showed Goodlow was not in bed when he was shot, according to Berlin.

Ultimately, an autopsy revealed that Goodlow was not tagged during the confrontation.

According to the account provided by the Berlin office, an officer's body camera showed what appeared to be Goodlow's leg sticking out of the bedroom door, as well as his right arm “bent and his right hand roughly at shoulder height”.

Pfingston testified that he thought Goodlow was pointing something at him or reaching for his gun, and he fired a single shot, hitting Goodlow in the chest.

Another officer deployed a Taser as Goodlow was exiting the bedroom, but it lodged in a wall and on another officer's shoulder, according to the Berlin report. Eventually, a third officer was shoved, resulting in an accidental discharge of the weapon, police said.

Berlin called the investigation “thorough and thorough” and said the decision was made not to press charges against any of the officers.

Berlin was careful to note that he did not find Pfingston justified in using deadly force, but that the state “cannot bear the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt” that Pfingston was not not legally justified in the shooting.

“Criminal charges, however, can only be filed if the evidence is sufficient to support a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt,” he said in a statement.

He also said the other officers would not be charged because their actions did not contribute to Goodlow's death.

The family filed a federal civil lawsuit against the Village of Carol Stream and the two officers involved in the shooting, alleging the officers entered the home illegally and that the shooting was unjust. This case remains pending.