Harvey Police Officer Calls for Change After Son Shot, Killed

The officer's son was killed in a shooting at a Harvey strip club Wednesday morning

A veteran of the Harvey Police Department is hoping for action after his son was killed in a shooting early Wednesday morning.

Lieutenant Darnell Keel is in mourning after his son Diovonni was shot and killed outside of a club in the suburban town. He says that he tried to keep his son out of trouble, but even as a police officer, he could only do so much.

“He’s my one man. He’s my first son. I’ll miss him dearly,” Keel says.

The shooting occurred at the Boogie Nights strip club around 2 a.m. Wednesday morning. Keel’s son was shot and later was pronounced dead, and three other victims were taken to area hospitals.

Authorities say four people were shot, one fatally, at a nightclub in suburban Harvey early Wednesday. Susan Carlson reports.

“There is an obvious emotional toll on the Harvey Police Department due to the tragic loss of an officer’s son,” Chief Gregory Thomas said in a statement. “At this time the bereaving officer in our department is asking for privacy as we comfort him and each other.”

The lieutenant says that his son had a troubled past, including an arrest for aggravated kidnapping involving a girlfriend last year. He was also accused of stealing and crashing his father’s police cruiser when he was 17 years old.

“Me being his dad and being an officer in Harvey for 25 years, I tried to keep him out of trouble,” the officer said. “He’s an average kid in Harvey. He had issues.”

Lieutenant Keel is now hoping to put his grief into action, saying that he wants to become police chief and change things in the town.

Part of Keel’s platform would be to shut down clubs with a history of violence, calling them “dangerous night spots.”

Police say that the investigation is still “fluid and active,” and that two of the three victims have been released from area hospitals.  

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