Tempers Flare In Mount Greenwood Amid Protest Of Fatal Police Shooting
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Protesters and counter-protesters clashed in Mount Greenwood on Sunday, a day after a 25-year-old Indianapolis man was killed in a police-involved shooting.
Joshua Beal, 25, was shot and killed after a brawl outside a Chicago fire station near 111th and Troy, while he and his family were part of a funeral procession.
Police said, around 3 p.m. Saturday, Beal was fatally shot by police after he and several relatives got involved in a verbal and physical altercation with an off-duty firefighter and off-duty police officer. When uniformed police officer on his way to work pulled up and got involved, police said he saw the suspect holding a gun.
"As the incident continued to escalate and the offender failed to drop his weapon, shots were fired striking the individual multiple times," police said in a statement Saturday.
Beal was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was later pronounced dead.
On Sunday, Beal's family held a press conference Sunday evening to address the shooting.
"Nobody [should] ever have to sit there and witness their brother get killed by the same people who's supposed to protect us. So justice will never be served," said his sister, Cordney Boxley.
Dozens of protesters gathered in Mount Greenwood on Sunday, to denounce the shooting. They were met by hundreds of Mount Greenwood residents voicing support for the police.
Clashes broke out between Black Lives Matter protesters and Blue Lives Matter counter-protesters, some of whom shouted "go back to the ghetto!"
"We should not have to endure this type of racism. We are in Mount Greenwood, and we just want the media and everyone to see the type of people that are coming out; the type of people that are coming, yelling racial slurs," protest organizer Ja'Mal Green said.
Organizers from the Black Lives Matter movement called for the protest in Mount Greenwood.
"We're standing up for our black brother, Joshua Beal," Green said.
Dozens of Mount Greenwood residents gathered to stage a counter-protest.
Several racial slurs were heard as the two groups faced off on 111th Street, near where Beal was killed.
A witness to the incident that led to Beal's death recorded video on a cell phone, and images from that video show a plainclothes police officer pointing a gun. Images also appear to show a man pointing a gun toward police.
"We're sick and tired of the false narrative that's being pushed down our throats," Mount Greenwood resident Steve Majka said.
Beal's family has said he was licensed to carry a gun, but Chicago police said Beal did not have a concealed carry license in Illinois.
"The problem is, everybody is making their assumptions based on the little stuff that they see; the pictures, the video. No one knows what happened," Green said.
Police said they are analyzing the image that appears to show Beal holding a gun.
"We received this same photograph today and we are currently analyzing it to determine its authenticity and origin. While it appears to be the offender, we cannot say for certain until the analysis is complete," Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in an email.
Police have not said which officer fired the shots that killed Beal, or revealed either officer's name.
The Independent Police Review Authority said preliminary evidence suggests multiple firearms were discharged at the scene. Police said they are conducting ballistics tests on the gun recovered from Beal to determine if it was fired.