Fellow Blue Islanders:

On May 20, 2024, a wrongful death lawsuit was filed in the Cook County Circuit Courts by William Burruss Sr. on behalf the estate of his son William Burruss Jr. As some people may remember, 21-year-old William Burruss Jr. was shot to death while sitting in his car by a Blue Island police officer early in the morning of June 1st, 2023.

The lawsuit is twenty-one pages, has four counts, and demands a judgement against the City of Blue Island for $200k or whatever the court deems appropriate. The lawsuit contains actual screenshots from the officers’ body worn cameras. This is the narrative in the lawsuit that was filed in the court: 

On June 1, 2023, after 1:30am, William Burruss Jr. was sleeping in his parked car near his apartment near 2015 Broadway St. His car door was open. A neighbor called the non- emergency police number and reported the car door being open. A Blue Island police officer arrived on the scene and saw William Burrus Jr. sleeping in the driver’s seat with his car door closed and called for additional officers. The other officers, including the sergeant (senior officer) arrived and boxed William’s car in with their vehicles. The officer also told the other officers that he thought the car was stolen which was not true.

The sergeant authorized the other officers to break the driver’s side window. The sergeant stated that if William tried to flee or grab a gun, he would “pop the window.” An officer tapped on the driver’s side window, in an attempt to wake William up. An officer pointed his gun at him and told him “Don’t move” and “show me your hands.” William Burruss Jr. raised his hands and showed them to the officers. A screenshot of William with his hands in the air is printed in the lawsuit. In his right hand, he is holding his cellphone. The officers yelled at him to unlock his car door. Without warning and without William grabbing a weapon or fleeing, the sergeant used a devise to shatter the driver’s side window while William had his cellphone in his right hand. A screen shot shows that fact.  

William yelled that he was getting out of the car while the officers were screaming and swearing at him. An officer ordered another officer to finish breaking the window. As the glass was being shattered, William turned away from the window and the flying glass and was yelling that he was going to get out of the car while still having his cellphone in his right hand. It was then that William Burruss Jr. was shot to death while sitting in his car.

Immediately after the shooting, the sergeant and another officer claimed that William had reached for a gun in his vehicle. The lawsuit claims this is false. The sergeant later admitted that he never saw William Burruss Jr. with a gun in his hand. In their actions, these officers violated their own police department rules, policies and regulations and general orders.

Here is a link to the lawsuit