Unfortunate circumstances set in motion by an allegedly mentally ill man. Update to this previous story.
Via Detroit News:
A Chicago police officer responding to a domestic disturbance call accidentally shot and killed a 55-year-old woman, who was among two people fatally wounded by police gunfire, according to officials with the department that’s already facing intense scrutiny.
Relatives said Bettie Jones lived downstairs from Quintonio LeGrier, the 19-year-old who prompted the initial call to police and who also was killed about 4:25 a.m. Saturday in a West Side neighborhood.
Officers who responded to the call “were confronted by a combative subject resulting in the discharging of the officer’s weapon,” the Chicago Police Department said in a brief statement late Saturday.
“The 55-year-old female victim was accidentally struck and tragically killed,” reads the statement, which extends “deepest condolences to the victim’s family and friends.”
The Cook County medical examiner’s office and family members said Jones, a mother of five who had hosted family for Christmas, and LeGrier, a college student home for holiday break, were pronounced dead at hospitals. Both Jones and LeGrier were black, the medical examiner’s office said.[…]
Chicago police referred The Associated Press’ requests for additional comment to the Independent Police Review Authority, the city’s main police oversight agency. IPRA spokesman Larry Merritt said it was “very early on in the investigation” and couldn’t release further details Saturday. It isn’t known when the medical examiner’s office will do autopsies, which would determine how many times LeGrier and Jones were shot.
Antonio LeGrier told the Sun-Times that his son had emotional problems after spending most of his childhood in foster care. LeGrier described his son as a “whiz kid” and said he was home on break from Northern Illinois University, where he majored in electrical engineering technology.
LeGrier’s mother, Janet Cooksey, told the Chicago Tribune that police didn’t have to react the way they did.
“We’re thinking the police are going to service us, take him to the hospital. They took his life,” said Cooksey, who was not present at the time of the shooting. She said she wants a personal apology from Emanuel.
Emanuel’s office issued a statement late Saturday that said IPRA was investigating and would share its evidence with the county prosecutor’s office.
“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,” Emanuel said in the statement.
Bettie Jones’ brother, Melvin Jones, told the Tribune that his sister celebrated “an excellent” Christmas at her apartment Friday with about 15 other relatives. He said she lived there with her boyfriend and was the mother of four daughters and a son.