State’s attorney: 2 officers justified in shooting man dead in Aurora
Two law enforcement officers who shot and killed a man in Aurora last year have been cleared of wrongdoing.
And it appears the man may have wanted to be killed by police after he had shot and killed his father earlier that day, according to authorities.
DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin ruled Thursday that a Kendall County sheriff’s deputy and a Plano police officer were justified when they killed Nicholas Novak, 36, of Aurora on Sept. 27, 2024.
The shooting happened around 6:38 p.m. at Ogden Avenue and Eola Road.
Novak was suspected of killing his father, Russell Novak, at the elder Novak’s home in Plano that afternoon. Russell Novak had called Plano police to report an invasion of his home on the 3800 block of Pratt Court. He told the dispatcher several guns, including a shotgun, were missing. According to a recording of the call, he then began to shout at someone, and then a loud bang is heard.
As police responded, they were advised that a neighbor heard a gunshot. A Ford Bronco then exited the home’s garage.
Plano Officer David Svehla began chasing it, and Kendall sheriff’s Deputy Tyler Giannotti joined in.
After a chase that lasted about 25 minutes and hit a civilian vehicle, Novak pulled into a left-turn lane on Eola, stopped and put the Bronco in park. He got out, holding a shotgun, as Svehla yelled for him to get out of the car. Novak stepped onto a median, raised the gun and pointed it at Svehla, according to Berlin.
As Svehla fired his gun, Novak shot at him, according to Berlin, then turned and pointed the gun at Giannotti, according to Berlin.
The two officers fired 16 times. Novak was hit once, in the abdomen.
Authorities recovered a Remington 870 tactical shotgun, one discharged 12-gauge shell, five unfired 12-gauge shells and 14 discharged 9-millimeter cartridge casings from the road and the top of the wiper area of Svehla’s squad car.
Giannotti told another officer at the scene “that’s (epithet) scary, he pointed that gun right at me.”
Investigators found notes on Novak’s cellphone that read, “Unfortunately, I’m done with life,” and a search history starting in September that included “murder then fleeing,” “gun suicide,” “Do police shoot to kill” and “suicide by police.” There also were notes that showed he had made suicidal statements to a relative, Berlin said.
And Novak had a blood alcohol content of .153%, almost twice the legal standard for driving under the influence of alcohol, authorities said.
Illinois State Police investigated the shooting. They were unable to determine which officer fired the fatal shot. Berlin reviewed police reports from Aurora, Plano and Kendall County, as well as San Jose, California; videos; and an autopsy report.
Berlin’s full report on the shooting indicates that on June 24, 2024, in San Jose, Novak was arrested at a hotel on charges of aggravated assault and carrying a loaded gun with intent to commit a felony. It said he threatened a housekeeper and a resident.
Around Labor Day, the elder Novak had called police to report one of his handguns was stolen.
The report also said that a relative said Novak had been hospitalized several times for mental health issues, including a stint in a state mental hospital and a one-week stay just days before the shooting at a private Joliet hospital.
Berlin’s report also said after the shooting, authorities found a Colt King Cobra .357-caliber handgun and a German Sports Gun .22-caliber handgun in the Bronco.
Berlin had to decide whether the officers reasonably believed Novak posed an imminent threat of death or great bodily harm to the officers or others, and so were justified in using deadly force.
“It is indeed a tragedy that previous hospitalizations and treatment efforts were unsuccessful in preventing Nicholas Novak from engaging in violent behavior. It is heartbreaking when a loved one meets an untimely death,” Berlin said, while offering condolences to the friends and relatives of Russell and Nicholas Novak.