Chief: No charges filed in shooting of 16-year-old Rock Falls boy; investigation continues

ROCK FALLS – Charges were not filed against a 17-year-old arrested in the Sept. 28 shooting of a Rock Falls teen when the juvenile court judge did not find probable cause for his arrest, Police Chief Dave Pilgrim confirmed Thursday.

The 17-year-old, who is from outside the area but was staying in Rock Falls and who has not been identified because of his age, appeared before the judge Monday afternoon in Whiteside County Court in Sterling.

Juvenile court proceedings are not open to the public.

“I respect the court’s decision, but obviously do not agree that there was not probable cause for the arrest,” Pilgrim said in a text to Sauk Valley Media. “We will continue to investigate and collect information and move forward.”

Police arrested the teen on charges of aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated discharge of a firearm and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, all felonies, after a 16-year-old was shot once with a handgun about 7:30 p.m. in the 200 block of East 10th Street.

The wound appeared to be life-threatening, Pilgrim said, but the boy was released Sunday from OSF Children’s Hospital in Peoria.

There were multiple witnesses to events before and after the shooting and to the shooting itself, which was not a random incident, the chief said at the time.

Anyone with any information is asked to call police at 815-622-1140.