CARBONDALE – A Kansas man has been convicted in connection with an officer-involved shooting that happened in Carbondale in July 2016.

According to Carbondale Police, 31-year-old Xavier E. Lewis, of Salina, Kansas, was indicted by a Jackson County Grand Jury in November of 2018 for Cannabis Trafficking (>5,000 grams), Manufacture and Delivery of Cannabis (>5,000 grams), Aggravated Discharge of a Firearm, and Aggravated Battery of a Police Officer with a Firearm. Lewis was finally located and arrested in Colorado in January of 2022 on the warrant. Lewis was eventually extradited to Illinois.

Due to a conflict, the Jackson County State’s Attorney requested the case be prosecuted by the office of the Illinois Office of the Appellate Prosecutor. The case was tried before a Jackson County jury and, on November 3, the jury convicted Lewis on all charges. He will be sentenced at a later date. 

On July 31, 2016, City of Carbondale police officers observed a vehicle fleeing after the occupants fired shots toward a group of people present in the 700 block of Robert A. Stalls Avenue at 11:38 p.m. The officers, who were partnered in a squad car, attempted to stop the vehicle. The driver fled at a high rate of speed as officers chased north on Marion Street and then east on Dillinger Road.

During the pursuit on Dillinger Road, one of the occupants of the fleeing vehicle fired a rifle at the officers, striking the squad car and penetrating the windshield. Officer Trey Harris was struck in the face with a projectile. His partner terminated the pursuit and transported Officer Harris to the Memorial Hospital of Carbondale. Officer Harris was transported to a St. Louis hospital for emergency surgery. Officer Harris suffered permanent damage to his vision as a result of the injury which required him to medically retire from law enforcement as a result.  

The Illinois State Police assisted with coordinating the investigation which quickly grew into a multi-state effort to locate the suspects. In the course of the following years, investigators identified numerous individuals as being involved with a cannabis trafficking organization with ties to Kansas, Oregon, and Southern Illinois. As a result of the investigation, a number of individuals were charged with crimes ranging from Cannabis Trafficking to Aggravated Battery to a Police Officer with a Firearm. 

Thirty-one-year-old Christian N. Reichert, of Marion, was indicted by a Jackson County Grand Jury for Manufacture of Cannabis (>5,000 grams) and Cannabis Trafficking (>5,000 grams) in September of 2016. He was convicted by a Jackson County Jury on both charges in October of 2018 and eventually sentenced to 23 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. 

Twenty-nine-year-old Alex B. Karcher, of Salina, Kansas, was indicted by a Jackson County Grand Jury in November of 2018. A warrant was issued for Karcher for Manufacture and Delivery of Cannabis (>5,000 grams), Aggravated Discharge of a Firearm, and Aggravated Battery of a Police Officer with a Firearm. Karcher pled guilty to the charges in November of 2018 and was sentenced to 27 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Twenty-nine-year-old Xavier L. McCray, of Salina, Kansas, was indicted by a Jackson County Grand Jury in November of 2018  for Manufacture and Delivery of Cannabis (>5,000 grams), Aggravated Discharge of a Firearm, and Aggravated Battery of a Police Officer with a Firearm. McCray pled guilty to the charges in July of 2021 and was sentenced to 10 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. 

In addition to all of the work by the Illinois State Police to coordinate this investigation with the Carbondale Police Department, the investigation and prosecution of this case were greatly assisted by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, The Jackson County State’s Attorney’s Office, the Illinois Office of the Appellate Prosecutor, the Office of the Illinois Attorney General, the Marion Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Salina, Kansas Police Department and Illinois State Police Division of Forensic Services.