Prosecutors decline to charge Illinois State Police trooper in fatal
shooting of mother of 3
[July 21, 2026]
By Beth Hundsdorfer
The Illinois State Police trooper who fatally shot an unarmed woman who
was driving a stolen car will not face criminal charges.
St. Clair County State’s Attorney James Gomric met last week with the
family of Rachel Tarrence, who was shot while in her car in the
drive-thru of an East St. Louis liquor store on Jan. 4, to inform them
of his decision.
In a letter of declination to the Illinois State Police, Gomric
identified the trooper as Gary Blake Novack, who joined the ISP on Oct.
8, 2022. He has been a certified police officer since 2018, according to
the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board.
Novack fired three shots at Tarrence, who was not armed, striking her
twice. She died several hours later at a St. Louis hospital.
The ISP’s Division of Internal Investigation completed its investigation
in mid-February and turned it over to Gomric’s office to determine
whether Novack’s use of force was lawful. The ISP’s Division of Internal
Investigation reviews all officer-involved shootings by State Police
personnel, according to ISP policy.
A thorough evaluation of the shooting included “a detailed review of
more than 40 hours of audio/video encompassing radio traffic, dash cam,
body cam, surveillance and witness interviews. Where video footage
depicted the same moment in time from different angles, the videos were
viewed individually and overlapped with one another for maximum clarity
of the events in terms of time and space. In addition to the digital
media, my officer reviewed the reports and documents submitted by the
Illinois State Police Division of Internal Investigation,” according to
Gomric’s letter.
Multiple senior prosecutors, including Gomric, reviewed the materials
and decided not to file charges against Novack, according to the July 16
letter and obtained by Capitol News Illinois.
Novack, who had previously been unidentified by ISP due to union
contract constraints, was named in Gomric’s news release and letter to
ISP. The letter also identifies a front-seat passenger as Mack Buford,
who had previously been unidentified.
Novack worked for the Collinsville Police Department from 2018-22.
During his tenure with Collinsville, he was named in two lawsuits — one
in Madison County and another in federal court — that alleged he used
excessive force against two men during their arrests.
Both men claimed Novack pulled them from their vehicles and body slammed
them to the pavement. One incident occurred on May 24, 2020, the other
on July 10, 2020. Both cases were dismissed. On Monday, it was unclear
whether there was a financial settlement in either case.
How the shooting unfolded
On the morning of the shooting, Tarrence took her mother’s car after her
mother refused to allow her to take a friend home to Trenton, some 30
miles away. Tarrence, a 40-year-old mother of three, loaded her
4-year-old son, grabbed her mother’s keys and left. Her mother reported
the car stolen to Maryville police at 12:30 p.m., police said.
An ISP trooper later asked dispatch to run the license plate of the 2024
Chevrolet Equinox. The check confirmed the car had been reported stolen.
The trooper called for a felony traffic stop at 8:08 p.m., according to
Gomric’s letter. Within seconds, Tarrence’s car was surrounded by four
ISP vehicles at the Rainbow Liquor Mart drive-thru lane on State Street.
With Novack’s squad blocking the exit, Tarrence put the car in reverse
and hit an ISP squad car parked behind her, the videos showed. Troopers
emerged from their cars and began shouting orders.
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Screenshot taken from body camera video of an Illinois State Police
trooper who captured the fatal shooting Rachel Tarrence by another
trooper on Jan. 4, 2026, in the drive-thru window of an East St.
Louis liquor store. (Photo from ISP website)
“While officers are giving commands to the occupants of the (Tarrence’s)
vehicle, the Equinox moves forward in the direction of Trooper Novack
before coming to a stop,” Gomric’s letter to ISP stated.
Tarrence disregarded commands to put the car in park, as instructed by
one trooper, according to the letter, and the engine can be heard
revving up before the vehicle moves forward again. Novack fired three
shots through the windshield, striking Tarrence twice in the chest.
Buford and Tarrence’s son were not injured.
Tarrence had a history of mental illness, substance abuse, running from
police and taking or keeping vehicles without permission, but Troy
Walton, the attorney for her family, maintained the shooting was
unnecessary. Walton said he anticipated Novack would be named in a civil
case.
“This is an officer that has a history of excessive force. We don’t
agree with the state’s attorney’s decision not to charge him criminally,
but it’s not the end of this,” Walton said Monday. “A jury of 12 of his
peers will decide if his use of force was excessive.”
Novack emerged from the car with his gun drawn and moved toward the
front quarter panel of Tarrence’s car, then stepped to the side and back
as he fired three shots, according to dash, body cam and surveillance
videos released by ISP that captured the shooting. He does not appear to
be in the path of the vehicle.
An expert on police procedures said Tarrence’s car was improperly
pinned, allowing the car to move. He also noted troopers shouted
conflicting commands and failed to try to deescalate the situation.
A meeting to inform the family of this decision had previously been set
for July 1 but had been postponed until July 16 at the family’s request,
according to Gomric’s office.
Though Gomric’s office took six months to issue a decision on whether or
not to file criminal charges, it isn’t unusual for such decisions to
take months, even years in some cases, according to a Capitol News
Illinois review of police shootings. The decision to file charges in
cases of officer-involved shootings is rare.
“My review suggests ISP Division of Internal Investigation has, to date,
pursued all reasonable avenues that could produce relevant evidence,”
Gomric’s letter stated. “Accordingly, I consider this matter closed.”
Novack has been on restricted duty since the Jan. 4 shooting. He will
remain in that status until another investigation into whether he
violated ISP policy or rules of conduct is completed.
In May 2025, Novack was on the scene when Fairview Heights officers
Hannah Muennich and Herminio “Tony” Raimundi were shot. He applied a
tourniquet to Raimundi, according to reports. He also carried Muennich
to the ambulance as she was transported to St. Louis hospital.
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