Man fatally shot by CPD officers after he fired at squad car: police
A person was shot by Chicago Police officers late Friday in the Washington Park neighborhood on the South Side. | Mitch Armentrout for Chicago Sun-Times
CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) - Chicago Police officers fatally shot a man who fired a shot at their unmarked squad car late Friday in the Washington Park neighborhood on the South Side, according to police.
At 11:10 p.m., the two officers, who were in uniform, responded to a call of a person with a gun in the alley east of the 5800 block of South State, CPD News Affairs Sgt. Al Stinites said.
As the officers drove south down the alley toward a group of men, one of the men pulled out a handgun and shot one round that hit the front bumper of the officers’ vehicle, Stinites said.
The officers returned fire, hitting the man, Stinites said. Police didn’t say how many times or where on the body he was shot.
He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died, authorities said. Fire officials said the man was in his 20s.
A weapon was recovered at the scene, Stinites said.
Neither of the officers were hurt. They were working as part of CPD’s new summer mobile patrol unit that was rolled out last week, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.
Edward Strickland, 69, was working as a night watchman at a recycling yard adjacent to the shooting scene. He said he was in an office when he heard between 15 and 20 shots.
“And I knew to step away from the door once those shots started popping,” Strickland said. “It’s not uncommon around here.”
Detectives interviewed Strickland and asked to look at surveillance cameras set up at the gate to the yard.
Along with the recycling yard, the alley sits between a church and vacant storefronts along State, and three-flats along Wabash. Young men often hang out and sell drugs in a vacant lot south of the scene where detectives shined flashlights early Saturday, Strickland said.
The officers will be placed on desk duty for 30 days per CPD policy. The Independent Police Review Authority is investigating the use of force.