The Shooting of Jose Gonzalez Jr.

On April 11, 2021 Jose Gonzalez Jr, a 19-year-old Rockford native, was a passenger in a sedan on the south side of Rockford. Rockford Police SCOPE officers Kyle Parr and Owen McGuinness spotted the vehicle and began pursuing it in an unmarked car without uniforms, lights, or sirens, based only on an unconfirmed belief the sedan may have been involved in a prior crime. At the time, they did not know the identities of the occupants or any details of the alleged incident.

McGuinness had multiple excessive force complaints, including incidents from May 30, 2020 and Parr had also been involved in multiple arrests that year, including repeatedly tasing a nonviolent protester who was later found not guilty. The officers aggressively tailed the sedan until it sped away, briefly lost it, then alerted other officers before relocating it stopped outside a home on Illinois Avenue.

When the vehicle stopped Jose exited and ran toward a nearby family member’s home. He was not suspected of any crime. McGuinness exited and chased him through backyards and over fences. During the pursuit, McGuinness claimed Jose turned and pointed a gun at him prompting McGuinness to shoot Jose in the back of the leg. The only evidence cited by Rockford Police was McGuinness’s testimony and a photo of a gun found in the grass.

This incident was the 24th case investigated and deemed justified by the Winnebago Boone County Integrity Task Force. It was also the second police shooting in two days, the fourth deadly force incident of the 2020s, and the 13th since Tom McNamara took office.