Chicago police have killed again. The latest incident occurred on Chicago’s Westside after police were called to calm down a college student who had anger issues. According to reports by Chicago Sun-Times, Quintonio LeGrier, an electrical engineering major, was visiting family while on break from Northern Illinois University.
Around 4 a.m. on Dec. 26, LeGrier began banging on his door and eventually grabbed a baseball bat and went outside. A foster care child, LeGrier was still dealing with emotional issues that stem from his troubled past. LeGrier’s father called police with the hopes of them restraining him until he calmed down. LeGrier’s father also told their neighbor who lived one floor below, Bettie R. Jones, to keep her door closed until the police arrived.
However, once the police arrived, the White or Hispanic officer, whose name has yet to be released, fired his weapon and struck LeGrier and Jones. LeGrier was still breathing when his father ran downstairs, but Jones, a mother of five, was unconscious after being accidentally struck by the police officer’s bullet. Jones was pronounced dead at 4:51 a.m. and LeGrier died at 5:14 a.m. The officer claimed that LeGrier attempted to attack him with the bat, but he shot Jones by mistake.
This is the latest shooting from the Chicago Police Department which is currently being investigated by the Department of Justice after the Laquan McDonald murder and police debacle. The CPD have a history of violence against residents and have attempted to cover-up cases where police were at fault.
Chicago citizens and organizations have called for Mayor Rahm Emanuel to step down due to his lack of transparency when it comes to police violence. There has also been a push to get Cook County D.A. Anita Alvarez to step down as well. But Chicago’s system has operated under corruption for so long that it would take a complete overhaul for the city to begin to correct itself.
The officer involved in the shooting is currently on administrative leave.
