IL: Multiple shots fired 911 call plus facts at scene created emergency aid exception

Multiple 911 calls of shots fired with facts observed at the scene created a reasonable belief that a person was injured inside. (Critical factual findings of the trial court on the motion to suppress were unsupported by the record, so the court reviewed all de novo.) People v. Lomax, 2012 IL App (1st) 103016, 975 N.E.2d 115 (June 29, 2012):

[**P39] Multiple calls to 911 complaining that people overheard gunshots being fired created a reasonable belief that an emergency situation existed at the first-floor rear unit of the South Wells building and that someone was in need of aid. Defendant’s arguments to the contrary, which are that the police could not be sure whether or not the sounds were in fact gunshots and that none of the calls were made by anyone who had physically observed a gun, if accepted, would frustrate the purpose of the 911 emergency system. As the Seventh Circuit found in Hanson, multiple reasons exist as to why no one who had observed a gun had called 911. Hanson, 608 F.3d at 337. If someone had been shot and was in need of medical attention, he or she might not be able to operate a phone. Hanson, 608 F.3d at 337. Furthermore, anyone else in the apartment might have been afraid to call 911 because of threats of physical violence from the person holding the gun. Hanson, 608 F.3d at 337.

[**P40] The reasonableness prong of the test is determined by the totality of the circumstances known to the officer at the time of entry. Ferral, 397 Ill. App. 3d at 705 (citing Griffin, 158 Ill. App. 3d at 51). The United States Supreme Court has cautioned courts against second-guessing the police’s assessment of the situation. Ryburn v. Huff, __ U.S. __, ___, 132 S. Ct. 987, 992 (2012) (per curiam). Police officers often must make split-second decisions, without the benefit of immediate hindsight, in situations that are often “‘tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving.'” Ryburn, __ U.S. at ___, 132 S. Ct. at 992 (quoting Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 396-97, 109 S. Ct. 1865, 1872 (1989)).

Hanson is Hanson v. Dane County, 608 F.3d 335 (7th Cir. 2010), posted here.