Chicago Police fatally shoot 2 people in Austin

CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -- Just as the furor over the shooting of Laquan McDonald was beginning to subside, the Chicago police have a new firestorm on their hands. Two people were shot and killed by Chicago police Saturday morning including a woman who appears to have been an unintended target.

Latoya Jones showed FOX 32 Chicago where police shot and killed her mother, Bettie Jones, 55, and their upstairs neighbor, Quintonio LeGrier, 19.

It happened around 4:30 Saturday morning after LeGrier's father called 911 because his son was acting erratically and threatening him with a baseball bat.

LeGrier's father then called Bettie Jones, his downstairs neighbor, and asked her to open the front door when officers arrived. That's when something went terribly wrong. Police radio calls show that shots quickly followed.
    
"Clearly they were trying to hurt somebody.  They shouldn't have been using their gun to shoot nobody anyway.  What are they pulling their weapons for? This is ridiculous," said Latoya Jones.

“When is this gonna stop? What are [police] trained for? Just to kill?" said Janet Cook, LeGrier's mother.

Cook said her soon was a sophomore studying engineering at Northern Illinois University and had been suffering from some type of mental illness since September. He had been taking medication, but she said his classmates had told her he was better without it.

"So I told him not to take it," shes said. She said the family had intended to get him back in the hospital right after the holidays. "And now we are not given that chance."

Police have released few details about the shootings.  The new head of the Independent Police Review Authority says they are investigating.

"At this time, our focus is on collecting the evidence and identifying and interviewing all the witnesses. At this time it would be inappropriate for me to answer any questions or provide any detail on what happened," said Sharon Fairley, IPRA Chief Administrator.

It's unclear just how far the officers were from the front door when the shots were fired, or whether it was captured on police video.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is on vacation, but his office issued this statement: "Anytime an officer uses force the public deserves answers, and regardless of the circumstances we all grieve anytime there is a loss of life in our city."