A domestic violence call in Macomb, Illinois, turned into a horrifying police shooting after an officer fired at a knife-wielding man who was holding a 4-year-old boy hostage, killing both the suspect and the child with a single bullet.
EWU Bodycam, which reviewed the March 16, 2024, footage, identified the responding officers as Lt. Nick Goc and Officer Korri Cameron of the Macomb Police Department. The channel described the shooting as the kind of split-second decision that would likely remain the darkest moment of Goc’s career.
The child was Terrell Marshawn Miller, and the armed man was 57-year-old Anthony George, who had already violently attacked Terrell’s mother, Keianna Miller, before police arrived.
Officers Enter A Scene Covered In Blood
According to EWU Bodycam’s narration, police were called after neighbors reported hearing screams coming from an apartment.
Goc and Cameron initially approached from the wrong side of the building, then moved around and found a far more troubling scene: blood smeared along the walls and signs that something violent had happened inside.
The officers knocked, announced themselves and eventually forced entry after hearing cries for help.
Miller emerged injured and desperately trying to escape.
Inside the apartment, George was naked and armed with two large kitchen knives.
The footage quickly became chaotic.
As Goc tried to get Miller out of the apartment, George disappeared from view for only a moment.
When he returned, he was holding Terrell.
According to the channel, George had the child at knifepoint.
Goc fired once.
Both George and Terrell immediately fell.
The Bullet Hit The Child First
The aftermath was instant panic.
“No, no, no, no, no,” Goc can be heard saying as officers rushed toward the two bodies.
Police called urgently for medical help, reporting a child down and an adult male down.
EWU Bodycam said the later investigation determined that Goc’s bullet struck Terrell in the head before continuing into George.
Both died at the scene.
That detail is what makes the footage so difficult to watch. Goc was confronting an armed man holding a small child, but the shot intended to stop the threat instead passed through the very person he was trying to protect.
The channel showed Goc appearing almost unable to speak afterward as other officers tried to keep him calm.
One officer asked whether he was okay.
“No, I’m not,” Goc replied.
Other officers surrounded him, telling him not to question himself and reminding him that he had acted based on his training and what he believed was an immediate threat.
Early Confusion About What Happened
The scene became even more confusing because not everyone immediately understood how Terrell had died.
EWU Bodycam showed newly arriving officers being told an incorrect version of events in which George had supposedly stabbed the child before being shot.
That was not what investigators later determined.
Goc eventually told another officer that he had shot the suspect, but at that point he had already pulled himself away from the apartment and appeared visibly shaken.
In his later account, according to the channel, Goc said he had feared for Terrell’s safety, the safety of others inside the apartment and his own life when he fired.
That does not make the outcome any less tragic, but it helps explain the decision officers were confronting in a matter of seconds. George was armed, Terrell was in his grasp, and police believed the child was in immediate danger.
The question that followed was whether Goc had any safer option available in that moment.
Keianna Miller Had Survived A Brutal Attack
EWU Bodycam also described what Miller said had happened before police arrived.
She told investigators that George, whom she had been seeing for about a year, was intoxicated when she and Terrell returned home.
Miller said she wanted to end the relationship.
According to her account, George then attacked her, held a knife to her neck and sexually assaulted her before beginning to cut her.
She later suffered 25 separate lacerations.
At one point, Miller managed to flee with Terrell, but she said George caught them and dragged them back inside.
EWU Bodycam noted that George had served 35 days in jail for domestic battery only about five months earlier.
That background adds another layer to the tragedy because the officers were not arriving at a routine argument. They were entering the aftermath of an extremely violent assault that was still unfolding.
Family Did Not Immediately Know Terrell Was Dead
Outside the apartment, Miller’s relatives were still asking officers to bring Terrell out.
One family member repeatedly demanded to see his nephew, unaware that the boy had already been killed.
Miller herself was taken to a hospital for treatment.
According to EWU Bodycam, hospital staff mistakenly told the family that Terrell was “fine.”
Miller later said she learned the truth from her brother.
The channel described her reaction as a piercing scream.
Few details in the case are more painful than that delay. Miller had survived a violent attack, escaped the apartment and was still asking for her child, only to learn later that he had died during the police response.
Officer Was Cleared Of Criminal Wrongdoing
The shooting was later investigated, and a special prosecutor concluded there was no basis for criminal charges against the officers involved.
EWU Bodycam said Goc remained listed as a patrol lieutenant with the Macomb Police Department.
The department’s chief also defended the officer’s intent, saying he did not believe anyone thought Goc entered the apartment intending to hurt Terrell.
That distinction matters, but intent is not the only issue raised by the case.
Miller’s attorney has argued that officers should have attempted more de-escalation or negotiation before firing.
EWU Bodycam reported that Miller later filed a federal lawsuit against Goc and the city of Macomb.
The channel also said Goc and the city asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit.
Miller’s attorney has sharply criticized the use of deadly force, questioning how Goc believed he could make the shot with Terrell in such immediate danger.
That criticism gets to the hardest part of the case. Police were facing a man with knives and a child hostage, but firing at someone who is physically holding that child creates an enormous risk no matter how urgent the threat appears.
A Split-Second Decision With Permanent Consequences
EWU Bodycam framed the case around one devastating decision.
Goc saw a child held at knifepoint and fired in an effort to stop George.
The bullet killed them both.
There is no indication in the footage that Goc wanted anything except to save Terrell, and his reaction afterward suggests he immediately understood that something had gone terribly wrong.
At the same time, the death of a 4-year-old boy during a police rescue attempt cannot simply be reduced to good intentions.
It is one of those cases where two realities exist at once: the officer was confronting an armed and violent suspect, and the shot he chose to take killed the hostage he was trying to protect.
That is what makes the bodycam so haunting.
The footage does not show a careless traffic stop or a routine mistake that can be fixed later.
It captures a decision measured in seconds, followed by consequences that cannot be undone.
Mark grew up in the heart of Texas, where tornadoes and extreme weather were a part of life. His early experiences sparked a fascination with emergency preparedness and homesteading. A father of three, Mark is dedicated to teaching families how to be self-sufficient, with a focus on food storage, DIY projects, and energy independence. His writing empowers everyday people to take small steps toward greater self-reliance without feeling overwhelmed.
