A man believed to be from East Galesburg is hospitalized after shooting himself during a standoff with police Tuesday morning.
The Knox County Sheriffs Department says deputies along with Knoxville and Illinois State Police, along with the East Galesburg Fire Department, went to the 400 block of South State Street around 10am for a report of a suicidal subject. The man, later identified as 44-year-old Charles Cook, was believed to have left his house and was walking toward a wooded area.
After establishing a perimeter, deputies say they found Cook in a vehicle behind the home. They say despite being ordered numerous times to drop his weapon, Cook shot himself.
At last report, officials say Cook was in OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, and was undergoing emergency surgery.
It’s not clear if any charges will be filed.
East Galesburg is in the Knoxville School District, and Superintendent Steve Wilder says the district’s schools were placed on a soft lockdown for a brief period of time as a precaution.
