Man identified following officer-involved shooting in Metropolis - KFVS12 News & Weather Cape Girardeau, Carbondale, Poplar Bluff

Man identified following officer-involved shooting in Metropolis

Written by Christy Hendricks, Digital Content Director
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(Source: Giacomo Luca/KFVS) (Source: Giacomo Luca/KFVS)
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METROPOLIS, IL (KFVS) - Illinois State Police and the Massac County Sheriff's Office have released the name of the man killed in the officer-involved shooting in Metropolis on Thursday.

Authorities say the suspect is Donald J. Hicks, 63, of Massac County. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to ISP, the Massac County Sheriff's Department received a call at 12:02 p.m. on Thursday to respond to a home for a man threatening to shoot himself.

Officers responded, but ISP said they couldn't find him.

According to police, at 1:12 p.m., the Massac County Sheriff's Department received another call reporting a man with a gun in a cemetery.

That cemetery is Pell Cemetery in rural Massac County.

Police say Hicks was in a vehicle. Officers with the Brookport Police Department, Massac County Sheriff's Department and Illinois State Police tried to pull the truck over, but they say he refused to stop.

They say Hicks continued until he reached the intersection of IL Route 145 and Waldo Church Road.

That's where officers used stop sticks to prevent the truck from going any further.

According to ISP, Hicks got out of the truck and was armed with a handgun. They say he refused to drop the gun when they asked.

“At that point the subject was armed with a handgun," Lieutenant William Sons with ISP said.

Two Metropolis police officers tried to use a stun gun on him, but it was unsuccessful.

ISP said the man pulled the probes out.

“At 1:12 p.m. a second call was received by the Massac County Sheriff's Department of a report of a man with a gun at the Pell Cemetery in rural Massac County," Sons said.

After again asking him several times to drop his gun, ISP said he then pointed the gun at the officers.

They say Hicks threatened to take his own life.

That's when a Metropolis police officer shot him, according to ISP.

No officers were injured.

The man's gun was recovered at the scene.

ISP is still investigating.

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