Police Blast "Broken" System After Parolee Charged With Shooting Off-Duty Cop
(CBS) -- Chicago police officials vented their frustration at what they see as too-lenient sentencing laws for gun crimes, after a convicted felon on parole was charged with shooting an off-duty police officer.
Police said 24-year-old Samuel Harviley was the gunman who shot the 49-year-old officer in the leg early Monday morning in the 10100 block of South Green Street. Police said Harviley and an accomplice knew the officer
Harviley has been charged with attempted murder and armed robbery in the attack. Authorities said he was on parole at the time, and had been released from prison on Dec. 31, 2015, after serving less than half of a nine-year sentence for carjacking.
"The shooter in this incident is a convicted gun offender and felon who was out on early release for less than three months before he attempted to kill a police officer," Chicago Police Chief of Patrol Eddie Johnson said.
Police said they want to see gun offenders like Harviley serve their entire sentence, rather than getting early release.
"This business of letting them out prematurely is costing the citizens of Chicago, and this is another example of that. This guy was out for three months, and went back into the same mode of behavior that he had before," Johnson said.
Police said this case serves as proof that sentencing laws for armed criminals need to change.
"The criminal violent acts that occur in Chicago are in great part due to the effects of a broken criminal justice system," Chicago Police Chief of Detectives Eugene said.
The officer who was shot had just come home after studying for the detectives' exam when Harviley and another man allegedly tried to rob him.
"Two individuals armed with guns stood on either side of his vehicle, and began to rob him, before one of the offenders gave the order to the other, 'shoot him,'" Johnson said.
At that point, the officer drew his weapon and exchanged shots with the robbers.
The officer was shot in the leg, and was still in the hospital on Wednesday, but was doing well. The officer shot Harviley, who showed up at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park not long after the robbery, and was later arrested.
Roy credited Gresham District officers with connecting Harviley to the shooting.
"They hear the call, a person showing up at Little Company of Mary Hospital, reporting that he had been shot. Harviley lied to them," he said.
Police were searching for two other people in connection to the shooting – the second gunman, and a getaway driver.