CPD Officers, U.S. Marshal Fatally Shoot Wanted Man Who Pointed Gun At Them In West Garfield Park
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Three Chicago police officers and a federal marshal shot and killed a man who pointed a gun at them Friday morning, as they were trying to arrest him on a fugitive warrant, police said.
Chicago Police Supt. David Brown said, around 9:40 a.m., Cook County Sheriff's officers and members of the U.S. Marshals Service, working on a fugitive task force on the 100 block of South Kilpatrick Avenue, identified a 33-year-old man who was wanted on two arrest warrants.
Brown said the man had an outstanding warrant on 15 counts of aggravated sexual assault, and another warrant for escape from electronic monitoring after he'd cut off his ankle monitor.
When the sheriff's deputies and federal marshals approached his vehicle, the man refused to get out, so the officers called for assistance from CPD.
When Chicago police officers arrived on the scene, Brown said the suspect pulled out a gun and pointed it at officers.
That's when three CPD officers and a federal marshal shot the suspect, who was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, police said.
A CPD spokesman tweeted an image of the suspect's gun, which was recovered at the scene.
Brown said no officers were injured, but the three officers and the federal marshal who shot the suspect were taken to the hospital for observation.
The superintendent said he doesn't know yet whether the suspect fired his weapon.
"That's yet to be investigated," Brown said, adding that police would have no further comment on the suspect's actions "until the investigation reveals those facts."
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability is investigating the officers' use of force in the shooting, and all three CPD officers are being placed on 30 days' administrative leave, as is standard procedure during COPA investigations of police shootings.
COPA officials confirmed the CPD officers involved in the shooting activated their body-worn cameras during the confrontation. Video footage will be made public within 60 days, according to COPA.
The shooting comes after five law enforcement officers have been shot in Chicago this week.
A CPD commander and sergeant were shot while trying to disperse crowds in the South Austin neighborhood early Monday morning. Both officers are expected to recover.
Two ATF agents and a CPD officer were shot Wednesday morning as they were conducting an undercover investigation in the Morgan Park neighborhood.
Police have said the officers were in an unmarked vehicle on a ramp to northbound I-57, at 119th Street, when shots were fired from the street just before 6 a.m.
The accused gunman, 28-year-old Eugene McLaurin, is charged with one count of using a dangerous and deadly weapon to assault a special agent from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
According to the charges, the two ATF agents and a Chicago Police officer working with an ATF task force were driving in an unmarked vehicle early Wednesday morning while taking part in a federal investigation, when they noticed a white Chevy Malibu following them, and they wrote down the vehicle's license plate.
The Malibu pulled up alongside them while they were entering the Interstate 57 on-ramp at 119th Street, and McLaurin began shooting, wounding both agents and the officer, authorities said. Their injuries were not life-threatening and they were treated and released at the hospital Wednesday morning.
Police later tracked the vehicle McLaurin had been driving to 89th Place and Indiana Avenue, where he was arrested later Wednesday morning.
Over the phone, a spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals said the incident is being reviewed by the Force Review Branch. The U.S. Marshal is on paid administrative leave until the Force Review Branch completes its investigation.
