Police Shoot, Kill Man In Washington Park Neighborhood
Updated 07/04/13 - 5:32 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A man said to be in his late teens was shot and killed Thursday during a confrontation with police in the Washington Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side.
The shooting occurred at approximately 1 p.m. Thursday, on State Street near 57th Street.
Wentworth District Tactical officers first spotted the teen in a school yard that had been cleared by police a bit earlier. Neighborhood residents claim police mistook fireworks for gunfire.
Cops Shoot Man In Washington Park
"He was gunned down for no reason, just because he was running," said one man, who refused to be taped or identified, insisting first that he be paid for his eyewitness account. Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Pat Camden said, when the tactical car approached, the teen began to run, clutching at his waist.
Camden said a gun fell out of the teen's waistband in front of a drug store on the southeast corner of 57th and State. He said the teen picked up the gun and continued to run.
"No mistaking a man running down the street with a gun in his hand," Camden said. "It's got nothing to do with fireworks. It's got to do with an illegal weapon being carried illegally by an individual who points it at the police, putting them in danger of their lives."
Camden said the teen apparently never fired his gun, but ignored repeated demands to put the gun down.
Chicago Fire Department paramedics transported the teen to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, where he was later pronounced dead.
The Independent Police Review Authority is investigating.
