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FILE - In this image taken from a video screen, Tafara Williams speaks to reporters from her hospital bed during a Zoom meeting Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020, in Libertyville, Ill. A suburban Chicago police officer who shot a Black couple inside a vehicle — killing a 19-year-old man and wounding his girlfriend, Williams — has been charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. Court records state Dante Salinas was charged in connection with the Oct. 20, 2020, shooting death of Marcellis Stinnette, 19, of Waukegan. His girlfriend, Williams, was injured.

FILE - Clifftina Johnson, back left, Tafara Williams' mother, cries as her daughter, Sasha Williams, sings during a press conference outside City Hall in Waukegan, Ill., Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020. A suburban Chicago police officer who shot a Black couple inside a vehicle — killing a 19-year-old man and wounding his girlfriend, Williams — has been charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. Court records state Dante Salinas was charged in connection with the Oct. 20, 2020, shooting death of Marcellis Stinnette, 19, of Waukegan. His girlfriend, Williams, was injured.

This undated photo provided by Lake County State's Attorney's Office shows former Waukegan Police officer Dante Salinas. A grand jury returned indictments on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, against the former suburban Chicago police officer in the Oct. 20, 2020, shooting that killed a 19-year-old local man, Marcellis Stinnette, and wounded his girlfriend, Tafara Williams, the Lake County News-Sun reported.

WAUKEGAN, Ill. (AP) — A former suburban Chicago police officer who was fired after he shot into a car two years ago, killing a Black man and seriously wounding the man's girlfriend, has been charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, authorities announced on Thursday.

In a news release, the Lake County State's Attorney's office said it had unsealed grand jury indictments against former Waukegan police Officer Dante Salinas in the Oct. 20, 2020, shooting that killed a 19-year-old local man, Marcellis Stinnette, and wounded his girlfriend, Tafara Williams, according to the Lake County State's Attorney's office. Salinas also was indicted on felony counts of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm and official misconduct.

On the night of the shooting, another Waukegan officer stopped the couple's car and was questioning them when Williams suddenly drove off, according to investigators. The officer pursued them and Salinas responded to his call for help and joined the chase.

Williams drove off a roadway and crashed, then put her car in reverse in an attempt to leave the area, the Lake County State's Attorney's office said in a news release Thursday.

Salinas had climbed out of his squad car and was not in the path of Williams' car but he “fired several shots into the driver's side of the vehicle as it continued to reverse past him,” according to the news release.

Williams was wounded and Stinnette, who prosecutors said had committed no crime, was killed.

An expert analyzing the trajectory of the bullets was able to determine the location of Salinas and the trajectory of his bullets, Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart said in the statement.

Salinas surrendered to authorities on Thursday and a judge ordered that he be held on $350,000 bond, prosecutors said. Second-degree murder carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and manslaughter carries a maximum term of five years. If Salinas is convicted of both charges, the sentences would run concurrently.

Douglas Zeit, an attorney who represented Salinas in court on Thursday, declined to comment when reached by phone.

Williams has been charged with aggravated fleeing. She turned herself in to authorities as well and a judge ordered that she be released on a $50,000 recognizance bond.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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A man who was believed to be armed with a rifle has been apprehended in sewers beneath the city of Bloomington. Indiana University police say the suspect was safely removed from a storm drain beneath Kirkwood Avenue on Tuesday and was to be transported to a hospital to be evaluated. It's not clear whether the man was actually was armed. A message left Tuesday evening for a police spokesman seeking clarity on that matter was not immediately returned. Bloomington police began searching for the man in the sewers about 12:30 p.m. The Herald-Times reported that police said the man was wanted on warrants.

Authorities say a steelworker who was injured last week in an industrial accident at a northwest Indiana steel mill has died at a Chicago hospital. The Cook County medical examiner’s office says 44-year-old Michael Osika of Schererville died Saturday after being injured Thursday at the Cleveland-Cliffs Indiana Harbor steel mill in East Chicago. Cleveland-Cliffs spokeswoman Patricia Persico says Osika was performing a routine repair when he was injured at the mill’s ladle maintenance area on Lake Michigan. The industrial accident remains under investigation. Details of the accident have not been released.

The utility that provides electricity for much of northern Indiana is seeking a 16.5% rate increase, saying the rate hike would help it modernize its electrical grid and make other improvements. Merrillville, Indiana-based Northern Indiana Public Service Co. asked the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission this week to approve the rate increase over two years for its 470,000 customers across 32 northern Indiana counties. The Times of Northwest Indiana reports the company says that if the IURC approves the increase its average residential customer using 668 kilowatt hours per month and currently paying $120 would pay $19 more per month.

Officials say a fire at an oil refinery in Ohio killed two people and the facility has been shut down. The fire started Tuesday night at BP’s Husky Toledo Refinery. There is no word on how it started or the extent of the damage. A BP spokesperson said Wednesday the two workers had died but did not provide their names or further details about the injuries they sustained. All other staffers have been accounted for and the plant located just east of Toledo was safely shut down. The company says its highest priority is the safety of its staff, responders and the public. BP's website says the refinery can process up to 160,000 barrels of crude oil per day and “has been an important part of the region’s economy for more than 100 years.”

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ The winning numbers in Tuesday afternoon's drawing of the Indiana Lottery's "Quick Draw Midday" game were:

Officials say eight people were rushed to hospitals after being injured when an explosion Tuesday tore through the top floor of a Chicago apartment building. The explosion at the four-story, 36-unit apartment building occurred at about 9 a.m., officials said. The department conducted a search of the building and found no other victims underneath the debris. No cause of the explosion had been determined. The department said that the Chicago police bomb squad and agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also responded.

Venezuelans have surpassed Guatemalans and Hondurans to become the second-largest nationality stopped at the U.S. border in August after Mexicans. The trend of more Venezuelans is reflected in daily headlines. About 50 migrants that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis flew to the upscale Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard last week were Venezuelan, as were five of six men whom U.S. authorities found drowned in the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass, Texas, in early September. An estimated 6.8 million Venezuelans have fled their country, mostly to Latin America and Caribbean countries but the U.S. has become a more attractive destination.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) _ The winning numbers in Monday evening's drawing of the Illinois Lottery's "Lucky Day Lotto" game were:

A Chicago state senator has been indicted on federal charges that he sought a bribe to oppose legislation that would have required a statewide evaluation of red-light camera systems. Prosecutors said Tuesday that Sen. Emil Jones III, the latest public official implicated in the bribery scheme, also is charged with lying to the FBI. Prosecutors allege the South Side Democrat told an individual with an interest in the camera system operator SafeSpeed that he would protect it from legislation in the General Assembly in exchange for $5,000 and a job for an unnamed associate. Prosecutors haven't named the red-light camera company, but SafeSpeed issued a statement Tuesday indicating that a former associate was involved.

A man who shot and wounded two southern Indiana judges outside an Indianapolis fast food restaurant in 2019 has been convicted on seven of eight felonies and one misdemeanor. After a three-day trial, a jury found Brandon Kaiser guilty on Wednesday of aggravated battery, multiple battery-related charges and carrying a handgun without a license. He was acquitted on one count of battery resulting in moderate bodily injury. He's scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 21. Clark County Circuit judges Brad Jacobs and Andrew Adams were shot in the parking lot of a downtown White Castle restaurant. Kaiser claimed he was acting in self-defense.

FILE - In this image taken from a video screen, Tafara Williams speaks to reporters from her hospital bed during a Zoom meeting Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020, in Libertyville, Ill. A suburban Chicago police officer who shot a Black couple inside a vehicle — killing a 19-year-old man and wounding his girlfriend, Williams — has been charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. Court records state Dante Salinas was charged in connection with the Oct. 20, 2020, shooting death of Marcellis Stinnette, 19, of Waukegan. His girlfriend, Williams, was injured.

FILE - Clifftina Johnson, back left, Tafara Williams' mother, cries as her daughter, Sasha Williams, sings during a press conference outside City Hall in Waukegan, Ill., Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020. A suburban Chicago police officer who shot a Black couple inside a vehicle — killing a 19-year-old man and wounding his girlfriend, Williams — has been charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. Court records state Dante Salinas was charged in connection with the Oct. 20, 2020, shooting death of Marcellis Stinnette, 19, of Waukegan. His girlfriend, Williams, was injured.

This undated photo provided by Lake County State's Attorney's Office shows former Waukegan Police officer Dante Salinas. A grand jury returned indictments on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, against the former suburban Chicago police officer in the Oct. 20, 2020, shooting that killed a 19-year-old local man, Marcellis Stinnette, and wounded his girlfriend, Tafara Williams, the Lake County News-Sun reported.

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