A 19-year old Galva man is dead after he crashed his pick-up truck on a rural road about 2 miles south west of Galva at around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, but it’s not yet clear that he died from injuries sustained in the crash.Knox County Sheriff’s deputies arrived on the scene to find 19-year old Xavier T. Hartman of Galva and 58-year old James E. Love of Galva being treated by EMS personnel.
Hartman’s pick-up was resting on the driver’s side.
He would be transported to OSF St. Luke Medical Center in Kewanee where emergency room personnel pronounced him dead.
Sheriff’s deputies say that Love lives only a few hundred yards from the scene of the crash and upon hearing noise and yelling came out to investigate.
A confrontation ensued between Hartman and Love which led Love to discharged two rounds from a 9mm handgun with a round striking Hartman’s thigh.
Love lives and received sutures for a laceration at OSF St. Mary’s and was released.
He is being charged with unlawful discharge of a firearm and aggravated battery with a firearm, the latter being a Class X felony.
An autopsy is scheduled for noon Tuesday in Peoria to determine the cause of Hartman’s death.
The Sheriff’s Department says a third subject, who had been a passenger in the vehicle at the time of the crash was located and interviewed.
That person fled the scene on foot at the beginning of Hartman and Love’s confrontation.
