October 12th, 12:25am red and blue lights flash behind Jamontey Neal. He pulls over. One cop approaches on each side, flashlights out. "Show me your hands buddy," Neal hears from Bowman, the driver's side officer. "I need my wallet out of my back pocket," says Neal. His left hand is up high. His right hand raises up, wallet in hand, as Ricker shouts "Let me see your right hand!" Bowman repeats himself three times.
"Step out of the car," says Bowman as Neal's door is pulled open. Neal asks "For what?", lowering his hands to his lap. He passes his wallet to his left hand, before his right hand reaches toward his seatbelt buckle. Bowman and Ricker are heard giving commands, one saying "Do not move" as the other shouts "Get out of the car!". Neal stops, pulls his right hand up, and his hands hover over his lap while these same two commands are repeated, with Bowman's gun pointed at him.
Neal looks right as his passenger door is ripped open, a second gun pointed at him. Bowman calmly tells Neal to put his hands on the dash, while Ricker shouts "Get your hand up now! It's under his ass! Get it up, NOW!" Neal shifts his body and hands, lifting his butt off the seat. Bowman shouts "Do not move!", reaches in and grab's Neal, while Neal says "Ain't nothin under my ass", while Ricker shouts "Do not! Do not! Do not reach for it!".
Wittmer enters
In the body cam footage, Neal's right arm is seen on the center console, and no gun is visible. The third officer, Wittmer, approaches from the rear driver's side, gun drawn. He nudges Bowman out of the way, saying "Stop, step back." Neal repeats twice "Ain't nothin under my ass." His hands are mostly still, floating just above his lap. Wittmer says "Put your hands up right now. Up right now. [put] your hands up right now, do you understand me?" then shouts "Up on the fuckin!".
Neal says "I ain't did nuthin'". Wittmer says "Grab the roof, right now". Neal "I'm not movin'". Wittmer "or I'm gonna end up shootin' you." Wittmer "You see a gun?". Neal "shoot me." Ricker says "There's somethin'". A wallet in Neal's right hand, a smartphone in his left. His hands shift slightly outward and down, then back up high as Ricker continues "Yeah he's reachin for somethin'!"
Neal lifts his butt up again, Neal & [Wittmer] saying "Look [stop] look [stop] look [stop] under my ass. Ain't nothin under my ass", while Neal's hands are up high. Wittmer grabs Neal's left wrist. Wittmer "Reach in and undo his seatbelt." Neal shakes Wittmer's grip as Bowman shouts "Do not pull away!" Neal says "Quit touchin' me" twice while Ricker reaches in and unclicks the seatbelt, Wittmer grabs Neal's left wrist again. Wittmer lowers his gun to his right side and looks away from Neal, at his own right hip.
Shootout ensues
Neal says "Quit touchin' me" a third time, while Wittmer is pulling his arm out of the vehicle and Bowman is reaching in toward Neal's shoulder, as Bowman says "Stop". Neal is reaching across his body, then pulls a gun from his left side and promptly fires. Wittmer steps back quickly, to the side of the vehicle, and stumbles, firing once as he falls back. Bowman walks back and takes cover behind Neal's SUV, firing 3 or 4 times.
Wittmer fires one more time, on his back, likely hitting himself in the foot before his gun jams. Neal has fired a fourth time, bullet hitting the ground a couple feet from Wittmer. Bowman retreats, getting cover behind his own SUV. Ricker gets cover behind a tree. Wolfe (Sherrif's Deputy) has arrived, exited his vehicle, and is crossing the street, opposite Neal's vehicle.
Wittmer's jam is cleared, and he continues firing as Neal is stepping out of his car. Three shots exit Neal's passenger side window, dust clouds seen in the dash cam footage. Neal fires at Bowman. Neal has lost his footing, his body turned toward his SUV. His gun fires at the ground, then up at the top of his SUV. Wolfe fires twice as Neal is falling and Wittmer shoots repeatedly at Neal's back.
Wolfe lowers his gun as Neal falls flat on his back, gun releasing from his right hand. Both arms cover Neal's head. Bowman shoots three times, likely missing, as dust clouds are seen on the ground. Wittmer fires & Neal's body twitches. Wittmer fires, and Neal's body twitches again. Bowman has ceased fire. Wittmer fires three more times, until his gun's slide stays back and his magazine is empty.
Neal's arms slowly drop from his head, body limp. His right hand comes slowly to his chest, and the footage cuts to black.
Aftermath
Neal is taken to DMH and pronounced dead at 12:48am. Wittmer and Bowman are taken to the hospital by fellow officers, where they are both treated for their wounds. Bowman was shot in the abdomen, but the bullet went through without hitting any vital organs. Wittmer was shot in the hand, foot, and the right buttocks. His hand injury was severe and required surgery. His butt was protected by a titanium wallet. He had injuries to his shoulder and face, likely from bullet fragments when his hand was shot. Ricker and Wolfe were not injured.
Accountability
Illinois State Police are investigating the incident, providing their findings to Macon County State's Attorney Scott Reuter (Republican), who will determine if use of force was justified and ultimately decide whether the officers can return to duty. Decatur Police Department will conduct an internal investigation as well. Police Chief Shane Brandel said "I'm gonna have personal conversations with Scott Reuter to try to have this done in a timely manner, so we as a community can move forward."
A press conference was held on October 12th, where Brandel spoke much rhetoric, shared very little information about the incident, and talked about the investigation to follow. Reporters asked uncritical questions. On October 24th another press conference was held where dash cam and body cam footage was released. Again, most statements were rhetorical in nature and did not provide significant information about the incident.
The dash cam footage was shown first, where the officers can be heard giving conflicting commands, Neal is not in view, and the impression is given that Neal simply refused to comply. Body cam footage followed. Brandel also played slow motion footage of specific portions of the incident and highlighted the dangers to the officers. None of the nuance of the interaction was highlighted or talked about.
Deputy Travis Wolfe is Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe's son, and the son of Doug Wolfe, a reporter at WAND.
Additional Information
Brandel said there was a second gun in the car, but did not specify where the alleged second gun was found. Body cam footage cuts prior to any vehicle search. Brandel talked about the Community Action Team (CAT), an 8 person group which is tasked with addressing violent crime & getting illegally possessed guns off the street. At the Oct 24th press conference, he said CAT had seized 73 guns since May, in coordination with the Street Crimes Unit.
Brandel said policy is to have reports within 24-72 hours after officer involved shootings, but that "wasn't possible because you had two wounded officers." He added that state law does not allow officers to watch their body cams until they do their reports. He says they can then submit supplemental information after reviewing their body cams. Further, he said they wanted to make arrangements for the family to watch the videos before releasing to the public.
Brandel said that an informant provided information that "the suspect" was in possession of a firearm. He said he would not expand further, due to concern about the informant's safety. He said Wittmer's vision was impaired in one eye during the shootout due to gun powder from Neal's first shot.
Brandel says the officers involved are mandated to go to a counselor. The officers involved were Austin Bowman (driver side, first contact), Ryan Ricker (passenger side), Timothy Wittmer (driver side), and Travis Wolfe.
A reporter asked if these videos would be included in future police training. Brandel said they look at videos like this to see "what in our training was really good, what maybe can we take from this and develop better tactics." He said they haven't yet sat down with their use of force instructors and stop instructors to review it. He then talked at length about firearm malfunction drills to clear a jam and said "Sergeant Wittmer has no recollection of clearing that malfunction". There was no discussion of de-escalation tactics.
Media & Public Response
WAND, Herald & Review, and WCIA all reported on this incident in several articles and videos. All three outlets uncritically reported that Neal refused to comply with orders. All three outlets highlighted voices of those in support of the police and did not include any remarks critical of the police behavior. WCIA provided the least biased reporting. Herald & Review and WAND reports repeatedly called for support of law enforcement and highlighted public figures calling for support of law enforcement. Herald & Review's Editorial Borad published an opinion saying the police did "Exemplary work."
Much of the reporting and public statements refer to Neal as a "suspect". Some condolences were shared for Jamontey Neal and his family, but many statements only included sympathies for officers. No mainstream reporting mentioned anything positive about Neal or any details about Neal's life, aside from past charges. Multiple reports stated he served time for a past crime, but none stated that he had been free since May of 2017.
Many commenters online have been critical of the police response, saying the police were too aggressive and escalated the situation. Some have suggested Wittmer fired too many shots. Politicians, local officials, and reporters have been uncritical of the police response.
Jaydoe says in a video "It wasn't just the streets being cleaned up. I lost my oldest brother on October 12th. My nieces and nephews lost their dad on October 12th. It was way more than the Decatur police department doin' their job and cleanin the streets and gettin a criminal off the streets. It was more than that."
Jaydoe's Video
Jaydoe, who says Jamontey Neal was his oldest brother, published a video criticizing the police response. Jaydoe says Neal paid his debt to society and that the charges are listed to paint his brother as a career criminal and danger to society. Jaydoe says during a traffic stop, police are supposed to ask for your license and registration, something the officers did not do.
Jaydoe suggested officers could have used their car's loud speaker to talk Neal out of his own car rather than approaching aggressively. He says officer Wittmer has a twin brother on the force and says "They are widely known in the Decatur area for being overly aggressive in minority communities, like this is not a singled out situation, this isn't a way for me to take this personal or anything, because it's other people with the same skin color from the same neighborhood that I'm from that knows the track record of the twin cops. Everybody knows the twin cops in Decatur, Illinois. They're overly aggressive with minorities. It's just a thing that everbody knows in the community."
I was unable to reach Jaydoe or any of Neal's friends or family members for an interview. I have not confirmed Jaydoe's claims about Wittmer or whether Neal was his brother. Jaydoe adds "They approached this situation as completely untrained individuals. They were the original aggressors in this situation. They didn't try to de-escalate the situation at all. They had no intentions of having a peaceful interaction whatsoever."
Jaydoe says "My brother was free from IDOC for 5 years. He was released in May 2017. And in the 5 years he was released, he did so many things for so many people, like countless things that I can't sit here and name that changed people lives. He was an active father for all 6 of his kids. He picked up bein' a chef. He actually cooked and fed the community. And he had an LLC for a clothing brand that he was constructing in his mind. And he was an active clothing designer. And multiple other things. He was the type of person that any type of thing that he wanted to do he could get it done if he put his mind to it. And all he wanted to do was motivate other people and watch other people come up at the same time that he come up."
I was not able to find proof of the LLC's existence, and I have not confirmed information about him being a chef or his community activities. Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) records do show that Neal was released in May 2017.
Online Discourse
As can be expected, there has been a significant amount of online discourse. Many commenters have defended the police saying they did everything right and put all the blame on Jamontey Neal. Other commenters have defended Neal, saying the police escalated the situation. Most of these disagreements lack nuance and are largely people talking past one another. Many commenters have noted that they have "no sympathy" for neal. Some have seemed happy that Neal is dead.
Many people are commenting and showing love for Jamontey Neal on his Facebook Page. On that page, you can also see pictures of Jamontey, presumably with family and friends. Some people have called for protest to seek justice for Jamontey Neal, though I have not found any concrete plans for a protest.
My View
This situation is tragic. Jamontey Neal was a free man since 2017 who's life was lost on October 12th, 2022. There were many people who loved him and are saddened by his loss. If Jaydoe's video is accurate, he had 6 kids who's lives he was involved in. It's sad that he won't be around for them.
I don't know much of anything about Jamontey, the person. I don't know if he was good to people. I don't know what all information police had. I don't know why he was carrying a gun. None of the reporting I've seen even attempts to address these points. I do know many people have expressed love for him online since he passed.
It seems clear in the videos that Jamontey fired his gun first. At that point, I believe police were justified in using deadly force to protect themselves. The reporting, discourse, and public statements have all focused primarily on this and other bad behavior on Neal's part, while neglecting everything else. I believe the police escalated the situation. I believe police exposed themselves to unnecessary danger with poor tactics.
I believe police genuinely tried to detain Neal peacefully, but they failed. They did not detain Neal peacefully. I believe stopping him was justified, due to the information that he had a gun. I believe Bowman should have been the only officer giving commands. I think Ricker's yelling caused the situation to get much worse.
I don't think it was possible for Neal to comply with Bowman and Ricker's commands, as one was commanding not to move while the other commanded to get out of the car. I don't believe he could have gotten out of the car at that time anyway, because he was buckled in. I think Witmer made the situation worse when he approached and nudged Bowman out of the way.
Wittmer yelled and cussed at Neal, then threatened to shoot him. I think Neal was scared, and handled the situation terribly. I think Neal should have stuck his hands up, out of the car, and not moved a muscle. I think he should not have tried to get out of the car when commanded to do so, as this would require him to reach for his seat belt buckle.
I think it was reasonable for Bowman, Ricker, and Wittmer to be tense and want to get Neal out of the car, away from the gun Ricker said he saw. Reasonable or not, I think their approach was wrong & they failed at their goal. I think the police could have handled it better, two officers might not have been shot, and Neal might be alive. I think Neal could have handled it better, two officers might not have been shot, and Neal might be alive.
I think this is a nuanced situation where no parties behaved well and the outcome was terrible as a result. The media ecosystem that has followed has been very biased to support pro-cop sentiments and has not criticized any aspect of the police response. The media ecosystem has not lifted any voices of those who have been critical, and has only expressed negative aspects of Neal's past. To this extent, I believe the media reporting has been biased and partially dishonest.
I have made a genuine effort to report on this story from a stance of pro-truth, pro-democracy, hoping to inform the public about the full context of the situation, which includes how rhetoric and presentation shapes our view of events. I do have a bias; I'm sure it has shown in some of my writing.
It is not my goal to convince you that cops are bad. It is my goal here to show you that this situation is more complex than the public figures and media reporters have made it seem. It is my goal here to show you that Jamontey Neal is a human being who has been de-humanized by rhetoric. It is my goal here to show you that there is not just one side to this story.
I'm glad the officers are alive and recovering from their injuries.