Armed man shot, killed by Lincoln police

LINCOLN — A Lincoln man who was reportedly armed with a gun during a fight inside of a bar Tuesday night was shot to death by a Lincoln police officer.

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By Jessica LemaThe Courier

The State Journal-Register

By Jessica LemaThe Courier

Posted Apr. 23, 2014 at 7:16 AM

By Jessica LemaThe Courier

Posted Apr. 23, 2014 at 7:16 AM

LINCOLN — A Lincoln man who was reportedly armed with a gun during a fight inside of a bar Tuesday night was shot to death by a Lincoln police officer.

Donald R. Letterle, 62, was pronounced dead at 11:41 p.m. Tuesday at The Glass House Tavern, 700 Pulaski St., said Logan County Coroner Robert Thomas.

Illinois State Police are handling the investigation.

Lincoln police were called to the tavern at 11:24 p.m. after receiving a 911 call from the bartender, Tina Baker.

"I told them that he had a gun and they needed to get over here fast," Baker said Wednesday afternoon.

State police said the Lincoln officers found Letterle armed with a handgun and involved in a physical altercation with a woman inside the bar.

According to Baker, it wasn't the first fight between Letterle and Candi Gesner, 38, who had been involved with one another "on and off for the last 2 1/2 to 3 years."

Earlier in the evening, Baker, also a friend of the Gesner family, watched from behind the bar as a simple disagreement escalated into a shouting match between the two.

"Oh, it was a heated argument to begin with," she said. "I told Donnie, 'OK, you've had enough, time to go home.' So he left, and Candi and I just sat and talked for about 30 to 45 minutes, just us. "

It was then, Baker said, that she saw a pickup truck park just outside of the bar. At first, she thought it was a female friend who occasionally stops by to chat with her and Gesner, but when no one immediately got out of the vehicle, she quickly realized Letterle had returned.

She said he sat in the truck for a good five minutes before the women heard his car door open and slam shut.

"As soon as he came in the door he had this crazed look in his eyes," Baker said.

"He looked at me and said, 'Tina, don’t **** with me,' and he started walking toward Candi, and that’s when I saw the gun."

Baker said that as Letterle began arguing with Gesner, she called the police from the bar’s landline, grabbed her cell phone as quickly as she could and ran outside.

"I just ran out of there. I think if I had brought Candi with me, he would have shot us both dead right there," she said.

Baker said that she was amazed Lincoln police covered the roughly two-block distance between the station and the bar within about a minute from the time she hung up the phone.

"I’ve never seen them respond so quickly and with so many people to anything."

Page 2 of 3 - Baker said that she repeatedly yelled through the open bar door at Gesner, urging her to get outside and away from Letterle. But her friend was intent on getting him to put down the gun.

Baker said Letterle refused to drop the gun and Gesner was shot in the hand in an attempt to get it from him.

A Lincoln police officer told Letterle one last time to drop the weapon, Baker said. After not complying, he was shot by the officer just inside the doors of the bar he had frequented for so many years.

"As soon as he hit the ground after they shot him, I knew. I knew he was dead," Baker said.

"I know they’re going to get a lot of (criticism) for this, but the Lincoln police did an excellent job. They did what they had to do," she said. "It’s a very sad thing, but they did everything they could to diffuse it. I was standing right here. I saw what happened."

Lincoln Police Chief Kenneth Greenslate said the officer involved was put on administrative leave, pending the results of the state police's investigation, which is standard procedure.

"It’s a tragedy, it’s a very bad loss," Baker said. "Donnie is somebody’s son, somebody’s dad, he’s a grandpa. Sometimes, good people do stupid things. He’s not a bad person; something just broke in him last night. You could see it in his eyes."

Baker said it was no easy task to tell a hospitalized Gesner what happened to Letterle.

"They may not have been good for each other, but they did care about each other," she said.

Gesner was scheduled to undergo surgery on her hand Wednesday at Memorial Medical Center in Springfield. She was responsive and had been in touch with family and friends throughout the day.

Gesner’s father, Irv Gesner, who has owned The Glass House for over two decades, said Wednesday morning he wasn’t surprised when he got word of the incident.

"I kind of expected something like this out of him," he said. "I have warned my daughter that something is not right with that man."

He added his primary concern of the day was for his daughter’s well-being and that, because the incident is still under investigation, he simply could not say a lot of the things that were on his mind.

For Baker, the ordeal left her with a feeling of numbness on Wednesday.

"I still just don’t know what to make of it," she said as she leaned against the brick wall outside the bar.

Page 3 of 3 - She said it was mind-blowing how fast word had traveled.

"By the time I got to the police station last night, I had 17 missed calls and 42 text messages. It seemed like everyone knew instantly."

That trend continued through the night and into Wednesday as early-morning shoppers at the IGA across the street watched as state police worked to clear the scene.

"It’s been all over Facebook, people are talking. I’ve heard every kind of rumor you can imagine," Baker said, shaking her head.

"I don’t know how to recover from this. I’ve been doing this 23 years and I’ve never seen anything like that. I feel like I’m just floating around, I don’t know what to do with myself today."

Baker said she may take a few days off work to get her thoughts straight.

Logan County court records show that multiple orders of protection had been issued against Letterle, formerly of Mount Pulaski. He was convicted of battery in 1993. In 1999, he was convicted on the misdemeanor charge of violation of an order of protection and he was charged with DUI in 2006 and 2013.