Romanucci & Blandin Announces $10.5 Million Settlement with Elk Grove Village and Four of Its Police Officers in the Shooting Death of Jack Murray

The largest reported civil settlement in Illinois history for a police shooting death of this nature

Family legal team takes issue with Mayor of Elk Grove calling settlement beyond disappointing and saying officers’ conduct was “appropriate”

CHICAGO (June 17, 2026) — Jack Murray was a young man with aspirations for his life, but he struggled with mental illness. The Elk Grove Village Police knew of his challenges, as they had been called to help him in his time of need before. On December 1, 2023, Jack called 911 himself. It would be the last time he would call them. Rather than getting Jack the help he needed, Elk Grove police officers fired five bullets at him, one minute after he walked outside of his family’s home, killing him in front of his parents.

The law firm of Romanucci & Blandin today announced a $10.5 million settlement with Elk Grove Village and four of its police officers for the December 1, 2023, shooting death of Jack, a 24-year-old man killed by Elk Grove police while he was in a mental health crisis. To the firm’s knowledge, it is the largest reported settlement in a civil suit in Illinois for a police shooting in which the person killed was not a bystander.

Tuesday evening, at the June 16, 2026, Elk Grove Village Board meeting to announce the approval of the settlement, Mayor Craig Johnson characterized the officers’ conduct as appropriate and compliant with all protocols, and said he was “beyond disappointed” at the settlement. The Mayor further noted that the Village’s insurance carriers insisted that the Village accept the agreement, noting that their risk analysis concluded the settlement was preferential to facing a Cook County jury at trial. Fortunately for the Village, they are represented by exceptional counsel who clearly painted the risk analysis. The Mayor’s statement can be viewed in the recording of the Village Board Meeting, beginning at 07:22:08.

This settlement contradicts the Mayor’s statement of disappointment, as the settlement reflects the tragic loss of life suffered by the Murray family. The Mayor's tone deafness in his statement as a representative of all the people of the Village is appalling.

Jack Murray called 911 himself on the afternoon he was killed. Mumbling and disoriented, he told the dispatcher that there was a man at the house with a knife who was going to hurt someone. The Elk Grove Village Police Department (“EGVPD”) responded. One minute after Jack stepped out of his front door, officers shot him five times and killed him. At the time of his death, Jack was 18 feet from the police and held a kitchen knife in his hand.

The officers’ actions amount to “willful and wanton” misconduct—the standard a Plaintiff must meet to hold police officers civilly liable under Illinois law. That standard is met by conduct showing “an utter indifference to or conscious disregard for the safety of others.” The evidence in this case demonstrated the officers’ disregard for Jack’s safety at every stage of the encounter.

Jack’s death was preventable. Jack died because the officers disregarded what they knew about Jack, their own Department’s policies, and their training for responding to a person in a mental health crisis.

Jack was not an unknown threat to these officers. Elk Grove police had at least 26 prior encounters with Jack, including many in which officers helped get Jack transported for mental health treatment. Multiple officers who responded on the day of the incident knew Jack by name. The officer in charge, Thomas Kure, had personally responded to prior mental health calls involving Jack. The Department classified the December 1 call itself as a “Mental Health Call.” Within seconds of radioing that there was a “man with a knife” at the residence, the dispatcher told the officers that the subject had “a history of bipolar and manic phases, and mental health problems.” Officer Kure replied, “Yeah, I’m familiar,” and immediately identified the subject as Jack. Minutes later, he shot Jack four times.

The officers also knew EGVPD’s detailed policies for how officers are to handle a person in a mental health crisis: speak calmly, build rapport, use words to bring the person in crisis back to reality, call the Department’s social workers, create distance, buy time, put barriers between yourself and the person, and warn before using deadly force. Each of the five responding officers was trained annually on this policy. Indeed, two of the officers, including Officer Kure, were certified Crisis Intervention Team (“CIT”) officers, meaning they had additional specialized training in how to respond to persons with mental health issues.

Yet the officers did the opposite of what their policy and training required. They developed no plan for how to respond to Jack other than identifying which officer carried which weapon. They never contacted the Department’s social workers. They drew Jack out of his home toward the officers. They used none of the rapport-building or crisis-communication techniques the Department’s policy required, even though the officers admitted they had time to use them, but chose not to. The only less-lethal weapon the officers deployed was a taser, which the officers admitted they knew was likely to fail and yet had no backup plan but their guns. They never used the beanbag shotgun one of the officers was carrying—a less-lethal weapon with three times the Taser’s range that Officer Kure admitted would have been helpful and should have been deployed first. And the officers admitted they never gave Jack a warning before opening fire even though they had time to, which violates Illinois law and EGVPD policy.

The officers’ own admissions in their sworn deposition testimony refute the Mayor’s June 16, 2026, statement that the officers acted appropriately and followed all policies and protocols. The Mayor remains tone deaf to the family of a young man who was killed by his police department. He only sees and hears what he wants to. 

Under the Department’s own policies, an officer facing a person in crisis who may be dangerous is supposed to buy time through “tactical repositioning”—stepping back and putting barriers in place to create the time and space to keep de-escalating. The officers did none of this. They never repositioned, never retreated, and never placed a barrier between themselves and Jack. In fact, Officer Kure removed the only barrier between himself and Jack 15 seconds before shooting him.

When asked in his deposition why he did not reposition or retreat, Officer Kure stated that he drew an invisible “line in the sand” that he decided Jack could not cross, even though no officer ever communicated that line to Jack.

Jack limped slowly toward the officers, never charging, shouting, or making a threat. The officers never even told him to stop. When he crossed the invisible line that the officers had drawn, about 18 feet away from the officers, they opened fire. By standing frozen behind an arbitrary line instead of taking the simplest steps available (backing away, buying time, and continuing to talk to Jack), the officers showed an utter indifference to whether Jack lived or died.

No officer was disciplined for Jack’s death, and the Department found no wrongdoing in its own review. It has made no changes to training or policy and has taken no corrective action. Accountability came only because the Murray family was willing to stand before a jury and prove that what happened to Jack was wrong.

Romanucci & Blandin filed the civil lawsuit in May 2024. Founding Partner Antonio M. Romanucci and Senior Attorneys Joshua M. Levin and Benjamin A. Berkman represented Jack’s mother, Donna Murray, as administrator of his estate. Other members of the case team include Attorney Colton M. Johnson Taylor and paralegals Dana Kondos and Houston Ward.

The case settled through mediation led by Judge Kay M. Hanlon (Ret.) of ADR Systems in May 2026, and the Elk Grove Village Board approved the settlement on June 16, 2026.

In his June 16, 2026, statement, Mayor Johnson claimed the officers were “completely exonerated” by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and other outside agencies. That is not accurate. In declining to file criminal charges, the State’s Attorney’s Office expressly stated that its conclusion “is based entirely on the relevant criminal laws and standards of proof” and “does not limit civil actions,” and that “the Office expresses no opinion regarding the propriety or likelihood of success of any such actions.” A decision not to bring criminal charges is not a finding that the officers did nothing wrong, as this civil settlement makes clear. “The Mayor’s own explanation proves our point,” said Romanucci & Blandin Senior Attorney Joshua M. Levin. “By the Village’s account, this $10.5 million will be paid entirely by its insurance carriers, whose entire business is measuring risk. The Mayor can call his officers flawless, but he was unwilling to put the Village’s own money on the line to prove it in front of a jury. Insurers do not pay record sums to make conduct that ‘followed all the rules’ disappear.”

“From Day One, our firm committed itself to the Murray family and their quest for justice and accountability for the tragic killing of their son, Jack. The Murray family never accepted the designed, contrived and false narrative of EGV officials that its police department acted within the rules and its own policies. The video of this encounter shows otherwise, and no amount of spin on what the eyes see can undo the reality of what happened. We would not allow this grieving family to be gaslit by officials who do not understand the law. It is our sincere hope that this settlement brings some measure of closure for the Murray family, who have struggled with their grief and disbelief about Jack’s senseless death. This settlement reflects the egregiousness of what these officers did and the value of the life they took. Jack Murray was a person in a mental health crisis, not a criminal—and the officers knew that but chose to ignore it. The officers disregarded nearly every bit of training and policy that are designed to respond to someone like Jack safely, without deadly force. We hope this result sends a clear message to Elk Grove Village and to every police department in this state: if your officers meet a person in crisis with bullets instead of the care, the planning, and the de-escalation they are supposed to provide, you will be held accountable,” said Romanucci & Blandin Founding Partner Antonio M. Romanucci. “The Mayor’s stated disappointment in the settlement quite simply devalues Jack’s life, and sends a message to the residents of Elk Grove Village with mental health issues: You are on your own, and should not call the Elk Grove Village Police for help.”

“Today, June 17, 2026, marks 929 days, just over two and a half years of not having our son Jack in our lives. We are all broken, fractured and that will never be fixed. We do not want Jack’s memory to be of that video the Village of Elk Grove put out. We want all of you to know him, the real him.  Yes, he struggled, but those struggles do not define him. This is who Jack was: loving, caring, funny, and extremely smart. He had the best smile and most loving hugs. That was our Jack.  He will be remembered by being just great, awesome Jack. And he was such an amazing, protective brother to both Shannon and Ryan.  Jack was always there for them, even when he himself wasn’t at 100%. That’s Jack’s true character. We will be moving forward with ways of helping others in Jack’s name to set his legacy in motion,” said Donna Murray, Plaintiff and mother of Jack Murray.

Learn more about our work seeking justice for families impacted by unlawful police shootings.

About Romanucci & Blandin, LLC

Romanucci & Blandin is a Chicago-based national trial practice committed to fighting for victims of negligence, abuse and wrongful death. For nearly 30 years, we have secured more than $1 billion in verdicts and settlements for our clients - many for millions of dollars and others record-setting awards. Our experience ranges from mass shootings, civil rights and police misconduct to medical malpractice, sexual abuse, motor vehicle accidents or workplace injury cases involving individual or institutional negligence. Romanucci & Blandin is a valuable legal resource to individuals and groups of people who have been injured by others’ wrongdoing. Referring attorneys and clients say several factors differentiate our firm: Our record of success, depth of experience, talented and dedicated legal team, tireless preparation and strategic use of communications to fight for the rights of those whose lives have been changed forever. We are different from other personal injury firms in that our work does not stop when a verdict or settlement is secured. We are often inspired by our clients’ experiences and commit resources to create change in our communities. For more information about Romanucci & Blandin, please visit www.rblaw.net or call (312) 458-1000.