Two individuals, identified as a 19-year-old college student and a 55-year-old-woman, were fatally shot by Chicago police as officers were responding to a domestic dispute early Saturday morning.
Quintonio Legrier, a student at Northern Illinois University, was reportedly “carrying a bat and threatening his father,” when police responded to the call, the Chicago Tribune writes. Bettie Jones, a mother of five who lived on the first floor of the building, answered the door for police when they arrived at the residence. She was shot shortly after.
A statement released by the department provided very little detail, but according to police, officers “were confronted by a combative subject resulting in the discharging of the officer’s weapon, fatally wounding two individuals.”
From the Tribune:
Relatives said police were called to the home by LeGrier’s father because his son was agitated and carrying a metal bat, family members said.
“His father was scared because that’s not his character,” said LeGrier’s mother, Janet Cooksey, 49, who was not present at the time of the shooting.
LeGrier’s father told Jones downstairs not to approach his son and to keep an eye out for police.
Responding officers were told by a dispatcher that a “male caller said someone is threatening his life. It’s also coming in as a domestic. The 19-year-old son is banging on his bedroom door with a baseball bat.” Officers from District 11 arrived at the home about 4:25 a.m.
According to a relative of the teenager, LeGrier was shot coming out the front door. It is unclear how Jones, asked by LeGrier’s father to keep an eye out for the police, was shot. Her daughter, Latisha Jones, said she checked to see if her mother was still breathing when she found her on the floor of the apartment unit. She was transported to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead.
“I’m numb right now,” said her brother, Melvin Jones. “Right now there’s a whole lot of anger, a whole lot of tears.
The teenager’s mother, who told reporters her son was shot seven times, questioned how police responded to the call, especially in the wake of police-involved shootings within the department and the recent release of two videos showing both the deaths of Laquan McDonald and Ronald Johnson at the hands of officers.
“He’s gone, he’s gone. Seven times he was shot,” Janet Cooksey said. “He didn’t have a gun. He had a bat. One or two times would have brought him down.
“You call the police, you try to get help and you lose a loved one,” she said. “What are they trained for? Just to kill? I thought that we were supposed to get service and protection. I mean, my son was an honors student. He’s here for Christmas break, and now I’ve lost him.
She directed her anger at Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who has been under fire since the video was released last month showing a Chicago police officer fatally shooting the 17-year-old McDonald, firing 16 times.
“Are we gonna get protected or is the police just gonna keep taking lives?” Cooksey said. “I mean, whose gonna answer these questions? Emanuel, I want a personal apology for my son’s life. I don’t want you to get on the news and say you’re so … I want a personal apology.”
An investigation continues. The officers involved have not been identified.
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty
SEE ALSO:
Lawyers Claim Ronald Johnson’s Mom Threatened Chicago Cop Who Fatally Shot Her Son
Chicago Cop Indicted On 7 Counts In Death Of Laquan McDonald
Chicago Police Fatally Shoot College Student, Woman While Responding To Domestic Dispute was originally published on newsone.com
