FOIA Requests Illuminate Details in Shannon Investigation
By Johnathan Hettinger
On December 28, Illinois men’s basketball star Terrence Shannon Jr. was indefinitely suspended after being charged with rape in Lawrence, Kansas.
At the time, Athletic Director Josh Whitman said that the university had known about the allegations since September, but had not received any “actionable” information until Shannon was charged and arrested in late December.
Champaign Showers filed a series of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests that help to fill in the gaps to show what the University knew, when. The requests were for communications by UIPD, communications by the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics (DIA), and university resources used (cars, planes, contracts with private investigators, etc).
The following is a timeline based on combing through those records:
Tuesday, Sept. 26 — University of Illinois Police Department (UIPD) Detective Sergeant Grant Briggs asks Assistant State's Attorney Joel Fletcher:
“Is there a time I could talk to you tomorrow about the procedure for an out of state agency requesting a DNA search warrant for a UIUC student regarding a sex assault?”
Wednesday, Sept. 27 — Lawrence Police Department Detective Josh Leitner prepares to come to Champaign or Chicago for an interview with Shannon and his attorney on Thursday. Leitner emails at 7:46 p.m. saying that he was canceling his trip because he did not hear back from the lawyer.
“Thank you for helping me out with the warrant. It doesn’t look like the interview will work out tomorrow but I haven’t officially heard from the attorney. I am going to say we won’t be heading that way tomorrow. Sorry for the last minute cancellation but Joey talked like the interview would happen and then I just didn’t hear back from the attorney.”
At this time, Leitner shares the information he has collected about the incident, including interviews with the victim and her friend, with the University of Illinois Police Department. He also shares a narrative of video surveillance that he collected from the bar.
“Attached are my narrative reports I have completed on this case as well as a summary of what I would write in the affidavit for search warrant if I were the author,” Leitner wrote.
Leitner included what charges were being pursued in order to obtain the search warrant.
Later, in his December 29th press conference, Whitman said:
“We evaluated the information we had and compared it to some of our prior experiences. We've used this policy on numerous occasions. We saw that we didn't have the same kind of information that we have used to initiate the process in the past or we didn't have anything in writing. There was no written notes of allegations, no documentation. We didn't have a police report. So we were looking to obtain something more than just the verbal updates that we had received from Lawrence PD through UIPD to us throughout that process.”
Friday, Sept. 29 — Briggs met with the DIA's Chief Integrity Officer Ryan Squire in Underwood’s office to collect DNA from Shannon after practice at around 9:45 a.m.
At 10:25, Briggs texts Leitner "Collected" after collecting the DNA sample and submits it to the Lawrence Police Department later that afternoon:
Tuesday, Oct. 24 — Briggs asks Leitner for an update, four days after Illinois’ exhibition win over Ottawa where Shannon led all scorers with 18 points, and just five days before Illinois hosted Kansas for an exhibition charity game where Shannon scored 28 points and played 35 minutes in a win over the preseason No. 1 team.
Leitner tells UIPD that he anticipates Shannon “either was charged or will be soon” and that he submitted the DNA sample for analysis “but it could be some time before we have results.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t have any update for you. I anticipate he either was charged or will be soon. I was communicating with [REDACTED] lawyer but I don’t believe he will allow an interview. I have included Jennifer Tatum, one of our Assistant District Attorneys, on this email as she may be able to shed some light on where we are at with the charging process. I received and submitted DNA to our lab for analysis but it could be some time before we have results.”
Later, in December, Shannon's Attorney Mark Sutter would release this statement to media:
Tuesday, Dec. 5 — Shannon charging document filed in Douglas County, KS. It appears as though there is no mention of the document being filed in the FOIA requests – by DIA officials or by UIPD.
Thursday, Dec. 28 — Charges against Shannon announced; Shannon suspended indefinitely.
Underwood texts Brian Russell, Senior Associate Director of Athletics for Sports Administration and Major Gifts, at 8:49 am.
DIA Leadership holds an “Exec Teams Meeting” at 10 a.m.
Dec. 28 — Shannon turns himself in to Lawrence PD after being driven to Kansas by the DIA. It appears as though he was driven by at least Brian Russell, who texted Underwood at 12:13 p.m.: “He’s been processed and we’re on way back.”
The travelling party spent $111.04 on gasoline for the trip.
Underwood had texted Russell earlier that he was telling the team and asked DIA to record it, so the messaging could get relayed to Russell, Whitman and Joey Biggs, Director of Basketball Operations.
Friday, Dec. 29 – Whitman holds a press conference detailing the university’s response before Illinois’ game against Fairleigh Dickinson.
Saturday, Dec. 30 — University of Illinois spokesperson Robin Kaler emails athletics staff, including Director Josh Whitman, to thank them for the focus of media coverage in the days prior:
Wednesday, Jan. 3 — University holds Conduct Panel hearing.
Read the full documents obtained via the Freedom of Information Act here:
