2/26/23 Dupo, IL – Police Officer Sees Man In A Bobcat Construction Vehicle And Approaches Him – Suspect Shoots Dupo Police Officer In The Shoulder And Steals His Police Car – Drove Home And Barricaded – Killed Himself

A suspect was found dead hours after shooting and killing one man and seriously injuring a police officer in Dupo, Illinois, according to police.

Master Sgt. Brad Clossen from the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department said police responded to the 400 block of McBride Avenue for a call of shots fired at about 1:30 p.m. Sunday. When they arrived, they discovered 46-year-old Darryl Mantz of Belleville dead with gunshot wounds. 

Shortly after, a Dupo officer was on McBride near the Interstate 255 overpass when he spotted a man identified as 40-year-old Reginald Allen in a piece of Bobcat construction machinery. When the officer exited his vehicle, Allen shot him. The officer was struck in the shoulder and was transported to a local hospital in serious condition.

Allen then stole the Dupo officer’s police car and drove to his home in the 700 block of McBride, where he remained barricaded for several hours.

During the standoff, a search warrant was issued, and Allen was charged with murder/intent to kill or injure with a bond set at $2 million.

A large police presence including armored vehicles and emergency medical personnel responded to the area. After hours of waiting for the suspect to surrender, officers made entry into the home and found Allen dead, an AR-15 beside him, in the detached garage at about 10:30 p.m. Sunday. Police said Allen died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. No one else was in the home.

Police said Allen and Mantz knew each other and had worked together in home construction, but the motive and what lead up to the shooting remain under investigation.

Allen has a history in violent crime. He was charged with reckless homicide after a 2009 incident at a Washington Park bikini bar where he was working as a bouncer. After Allen threw a brick through the victim’s windshield, the victim got out of the car, shots were fired into the air and Allen ran over and killed the man in his pickup truck while driving off, according to the Belleville News-Democrat. Plea negotiations in 2016 brought Allen’s charge down to mob action with only a year’s prison sentence.

During a news conference Monday morning, St. Clair County Sheriff Richard Watson said the injured Dupo officer was 49 years old with 12 years of experience in law enforcement. Prior to serving in Dupo, the officer served in South Roxana and Cahokia Heights.

Watson said the officer remained hospitalized with stable vital signs but in critical condition Monday. He had undergone at least one surgery. Watson said he is expected to make a full recovery, though it will be a long one.

Police have yet to release the name of the officer at the request of his family.