Off-Duty Officer Kills Burglary Suspect In Lincoln Park
CHICAGO (STMW) -- An off-duty Chicago Police officer shot and killed a suspected burglar in the North Side Lincoln Park neighborhood late Saturday.
About 11:40 p.m., an off-duty police officer saw a man trying to break into the rear entrance of a second-floor apartment in the 1900 block of North Lincoln Avenue, according to a statement from police News Affairs.
He identified himself as a police officer and ordered the man to come down, the statement said.
The suspect eventually came down, and the officer saw the man had his hand in his waistband, the statement said. The officer twice ordered the man to show his hands, but the man refused.
Then the suspect "threatened the officer's life" and pulled a "shiny object" out of his waistband as he ran at the officer, prompting the off-duty officer to shoot him, the statement said.
The suspect was killed, and the officer was not injured, the statement said.
The man was identified as Rickey Rozelle, 28, of the 6100 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
The Independent Police Review Authority responded to the scene and is investigating the shooting, spokesman Larry Merritt said.
Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Pat Camden defended the shooting, saying that the officer fired in self-defense after the burglary suspect threatened to kill him.
Camden said the man killed had a flashlight and a backpack with him while he was trying to get in to the vacant second-floor apartment.
A neighbor had also yelled at the man to show the police officer his hands, but the man kept walking away and turned down a dark gangway, Camden said.
It was in the gangway where the man turned around, threatened to kill the officer and pulled something out of his waistband, at which point the officer shot him, Camden said.
Authorities could not immediately say whether a weapon was found at the scene.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
