Teen Shot By Police On SW Side
Updated 09/16/12 - 10:19 a.m.
CHICAGO (STMW) -- A 17-year-old boy was shot by police officers Saturday night in the Englewood neighborhood on the Southwest Side, officials said.
The shooting happened about 9:10 p.m. in the 7700 block of South Wolcott Avenue, according to a statement from police News Affairs.
Officers from the Area South Gang Enforcement Team responded to a man with a gun call and saw a male who fit the description, the statement said. Officers approached, announced they were police and the male took off running.
The officers chased him until he turned and pointed a handgun at them, prompting one of the officers to shoot him, according to the statement, adding that no officers were injured and a weapon was recovered.
Paramedics took the teen in "stable" condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, said Fire Media Affairs Cmdr. Sean Flynn.
The boy suffered a gunshot wound to the buttocks, said Larry Merritt, a spokesman for the Independent Police Review Authority, which investigates police-involved shootings. Merritt said agency officials were on the scene collecting details.
Pat Camden, a spokesman for the Fraternal Order of Police, said someone called 911 to report a person with gun near the intersection of 77th Street and Wolcott Avenue. People had gathered at a makeshift memorial for someone who was killed at that location, Camden said.
The caller gave a clear description of the person who allegedly had a gun, so officers easily spotted the person when they arrived, Camden. The officers told the person to come over to them, but the person instead began running away, Camden said.
The person allegedly took out and pointed a .380 semi-automatic handgun at the officers, Camden said. An officer fired shots because he feared for his life, Camden said.
This is the second police-involved shooting this weekend.
On Friday night, police officers fatally shot a man and wounded another after they allegedly pointed handguns at the officers in the Roseland neighborhood on the Far South Side.
About 9:30 p.m. Friday, tactical officers were sent to a block party in the 200 block of West 110th Street after police received a call that a man had a gun, according to a statement from police News Affairs.
Witnesses identified three men to police officers, the statement said. As the officers approached the men and announced themselves as police, the suspects fled the scene. The officers pursued on foot and two of the men pointed weapons at police.
The unidentified man in his 20s was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:49 p.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
The second man who allegedly pointed a gun was found in a nearby yard and arrested without incident, the statement said. A third suspect was arrested at the scene.
The officers—who were assigned to the Calumet District—were not injured, the statement said, and two weapons were recovered.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
