BELLEVILLE, ILLINOIS – A man who called 911 to report that he shot another man in self-defense was jailed on charged related to the shooting, which occurred on Monday night. St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department deputies responded to the reported shooting at the Sav-On Liquor and Wine / BP station in the 1100 block of Carlyle Avenue. Upon arrival, they found bystanders trying to help a man suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. After being rushed to a local hospital he was pronounced dead.
Devan Hill, the 23-year-old who fired the fatal shot, said that the man, identified as Hassan Simpson, also 23, was in the company of two other people when they approached him in the parking lot. According to a Sheriff’s Department statement, “Hill believed that he had to defend himself against the three, because of past history. Hill in fact called 911 after the shooting.”
While not charged with the fatal shooting, he was charged with felony aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, since he unlawfully possessed the pistol used in the shooting. As of Wednesday, he remained in custody under a $30,000 bond in the St. Clair County Jail.
While the State of Illinois does have “castle doctrine” laws which allows people to defend themselves in their domicile without the duty to retreat, it does not have “stand your ground” laws, which allow a person to defend themselves outside of the home without the duty to retreat.
