Cops Fatally Shoot Boy, 15, In Englewood
Boy, 15, Fatally Shot By Police
Updated 06/17/13 - 10:24 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago police shot and killed a 15-year-old boy during a foot chase in Englewood late Sunday night, on the heels of the most violent weekend in the city so far this year.
Police said six people were killed and 41 were wounded in various shootings since Friday evening. In addition, police officers shot and killed two people and wounded another, during incidents in which suspects allegedly pointed guns at police.
CBS 2's Susanna Song reports 15-year-old Michael Westley allegedly pointed a gun at officers after fleeing from them Sunday night in the Englewood neighborhood, where officers had heard gunfire.
Westley was wrapping up his freshman year at TEAM Englewood Community Academy High School. His grandmother said he would have turned 16 in just a couple of weeks. Officials at the school said he was an excellent student, was never late, and had lots of friends; students at the school were in shock Monday morning, and a crisis team had been called in to talk to students.
Westley was at his grandmother's house on Sunday to celebrate Father's Day, and later that night went out with friends.
"I understand that … they were shooting fireworks, and maybe that's what police mistook as gunfire. I'm not really sure," Eastley Lewis said.
Officers with the gang crimes unit thought they heard gunfire around 10:50 p.m. in the 6700 block of South Sangamon Street, and saw three people flee the scene.
Authorities said officers in a squad car saw Westley running south on Sangamon, and cut him off with their vehicle, and he turned around and ran the other way.
Police said the officers identified themselves and ordered him to stop, but he continued to flee. When he got to an alley, Westley allegedly turned around and pointed a gun at the officers.
"He's running, he has a gun in his hand, he turns toward the officers, two shots are fired, the offender is hit, goes down. He has what appears to be a Glock .40-caliber handgun with an extended clip on it, that he pointed at the officers" said Pat Camden, spokesman for the Fraternal Order of Police.
A second gun, a revolver, was found in Westley's waistband, Camden said.
But Lewis said she doesn't believe her grandson had any guns.
"To my knowledge, he's never been involved with having guns and anything like that," Lewis said. "I'm sad, I'm hurt. … Just can't believe this, you know I really can't, it's just really unbelievable. Every time I think about it, that he's gone, it saddens me."
Westley was one of three people shot by police over the weekend.
Early Sunday morning, police shot and killed a man in North Lawndale. After police pulled that man over for a traffic stop, he got out of the car with a gun in his waistband, and fled down an alley, according to police.
As the officers gave chase, the man slipped and fell, and reached for his weapon, and an officer shot and killed him. The man was later identified as 21-year-old Antowyn Johnson.
On Friday, a police officer shot and wounded a teen, who allegedly swung a board from a picket fence at an officer after fleeing from a traffic stop in Portage Park.
The teen was in good condition at the hospital.
