A father is suing the Blue Island Police Department and two officers, alleging the wrongful death of his 21-year-old son who was fatally shot by police June 1, 2023, while sitting int he driver seat of his car.
William Burruss Sr. said his son, Burruss Jr., was an ambitious student with one year left at Millikin Univeristy in Decatur.
“He was telling me, we got to put me some more goals together because I’m going to go ahead and graduate. I’m doing this for you,” Burruss Sr. said.
Burruss Sr. recalled the last Christmas he spent with his son, remembering how he gave him 10 different gifts including foot warmers and blankets.
“He said Dad, I just wanted to give you 10 different gifts,” Burruss Sr. recalls. “He loved seeing people smile. He loved giving people things.”
Almost a year after his son’s death, Burruss Sr. filed a lawsuit May 20 accusing the Blue Island Police Department and officers David Nedved and Bryan Holwell of wrongful death and willful and wanton negligence, and an additional two counts against the department for failure to train and failure to supervise.
Louis Meyer of Meyer and Kiss, the law firm representing Burruss, said the firm agreed to take on the suit after viewing body cam footage obtained from the Police Department.
“There’s body cam footage from all the officers,” Meyer said. “After our review, we watched it with the family, and just really thought that this was an unjustified shooting.”
Blue Island city administrator Tom Wogan said Holwell, who fired the fatal shot, has been on paid administrative leave since the shooting, after applying for workers’ compensation.
Burruss Jr.’s death is still being investigated by the Illinois State Police Public Integrity Task Force. According to the state police’s website, the case was submitted for prosecutorial review.
The city will not take action until after the Illinois State Police finish its investigation, Wogan said.
Burruss Sr., a Cook County sherriff deputy, was looking for answers after he learned his son was killed, but said obtaining information from Blue Island and state police has been difficult.
“I kept calling when the situation occurred with my son. I kept going up to Blue Island and they finally referred me to the integrity unit,” he said. “But every time I try to gather some type of information, the healing process is never able to start. I feel like I’m constantly being kind of like blindfolded.”
According to the lawsuit, police were responding to a wellness check requested by Burruss Jr.’s neighbor after seeing him sleeping in his car with the door ajar.
“It was just the neighbor concerned that his neighbor was sleeping in his car … because his head was back, his mouth was open, he was just out cold sleeping, and so a well-being check turned into the death of Mr. Burruss,” Meyer said.
Officer Holwell arrived on the scene at 1:41 a.m. finding the car door closed. After looking through the car’s window, Holwell saw a firearm in the passenger seat and requested backup, according to the lawsuit.
Meyer said he is not sure why there was a firearm in Burruss Jr.’s car, but believes the responding officers assumed Burruss Jr.’s possession of the firearm was illegal, without checking for a concealed carry permit.
Based on his review of the body cam footage, Meyer said Burruss Jr. never reached for the firearm or pointed it at an officer.
“At no point in this incident did William ever pick up the gun, point the gun, you know, anything like that,” Meyer said.
After more officers arrived on the scene, they boxed in the vehicle. Nedved, a sergeant, ordered the officers to break the driver’s side window of Burruss Jr.’s car if he tried to flee or reach for a gun, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims that after Burruss Jr. woke up, Holwell aimed his gun at him, instructing him to remain still and show his hands. Burruss Jr. complied, but then attempted to retrieve a cellphone with his right hand while keeping his left hand raised, the lawsuit states.
Meyer said this prompted Nedved to shatter the driver’s side window.
Officers instructed Burruss Jr. to exit the vehicle, but as he shielded his face from the broken glass and declared his intention to comply, Holwell discharged his firearm, striking Burruss Jr. in the torso, the lawsuit states.
He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn where he was pronounced dead.
According to a statement shared by police in 2023, officers saw an AR-15 in the vehicle, and when Burruss Jr. awoke, they said he reached for the passenger seat where the weapon lay.
Burruss Sr. is requesting in excess of $50,000, leaving any additional amounts up to a jury’s deliberation. For him, filing the lawsuit was not about monetary compensation, but to seek accountability.
“I want justice for my son. My son’s life for me is priceless,” he said. “There’s no value that you can even put on that. So I’m not even looking at that, but there’s nothing that they could actually give me to compensate for the loss of my child.”
The first court date is set for July 25, where Meyer said both parties may request additional documentation and schedule depositions.
