Officer Fatally Wounds Armed Suspect In Austin Neighborhood
CHICAGO (STMW) -- A male is dead after being critically wounded Saturday during a police-involved shooting in the Austin neighborhood on the West Side, police said.
About 4:20 p.m., Austin District police officers were in the area of West Madison Street and South Parkside Avenue when witnesses who heard gunshots flagged them down, according to a police News Affairs release.
Officers found a vehicle that matched the description given by the witnesses and someone fled on foot from the vehicle, the release said. As officers pursued on foot, the person pointed a weapon and fired gunshots.
Officers fired shots that struck the suspect, the release said. There were no other injuries and a weapon was found at the scene.
Firefighters responded to a shooting in the 0-100 block of North Parkside Avenue, said Fire Media spokesman Quention Curtis.
A male was taken in critical condition to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Curtis said.
The male was later pronounced dead, the release said.
He was identified as Lynell Hawkins, 32, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Pat Camden said that the officer saw a male running with a gun and began pursuing on foot near Washington Street and Parkside Avenue. The suspect began firing at the officer who did not return fire at the time because a mother and child were present.
The officer followed the suspect up the stairs of a 12-unit apartment building and told the suspect to drop his gun, Camden said. The suspect refused and at the top of the third-floor stairs, the suspect pointed his weapon at the officer, who shot the suspect.
A police-involved shooting that resulted in a fatality occurred at 52 N. Parkside Ave., Independent Police Review Authority spokeswoman Andrea Stoutenborough. A weapon was recovered and IPRA is investigating.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2010. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
