Rockford man shot, killed by DeKalb County sheriff's deputies after hostage standoff ID'd

Friday, October 25, 2024 1:58PM CT
DEKALB COUNTY, Ill. (WLS) -- The man killed in a police shooting during a standoff involving a hostage in DeKalb earlier this week has been identified.

The DeKalb County Coroner's Office on Friday identified the man shot and killed by police Tuesday night as Abram Perez, 42, of Rockford.



The coroner's office said his cause of death is pending autopsy and toxicology results

The DeKalb County sheriff's office received an alert at about 11:03 p.m. Tuesday about a vehicle suspected to be involved in a shooting in Rockford.



The vehicle was later spotted on traffic cameras at Peace Road and Mercantile Drive, and police later found the vehicle pulling into the address it was registered to in DeKalb.

A sheriff's deputy attempted to stop the vehicle, which refused to stop and drove away, the sheriff's office said.

Deputies pursued the vehicle, deploying stop sticks to deflate its tires. It came to a stop on Rich Road west of Nelson Road.

The suspect, Perez, was seen armed with a handgun with a hostage inside the car, the sheriff's office said.

The DeKalb County Special Operations Team was activated, which includes hostage negotiators, the sheriff's office said.



The hostage was released unharmed after several hours of negotiations, the sheriff's office said.

Negotiations continued with Perez to get him to surrender.

Perez eventually allegedly pointed the gun at police and fired; police returned fire, killing him, the sheriff's office said.

Rockford police have not confirmed any information about the original suspected shooting that started the chain of events.

Illinois State Police are investigating.



On Wednesday, police shot a man wielding a knife in a DeKalb car dealership, in an unrelated incident.

The video in the player above is from an earlier report.
Copyright © 2024 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.