Boy, 13, Shot By Police Charged With Assaulting Officer
CHICAGO (STMW) -- A 13-year-old boy shot by police last week will appear for a court hearing Aug. 15 after being charged with allegedly assaulting a police officer.
Jimmell Cannon suffered multiple gunshot wounds at about 11 p.m. in the 1000 block of North Kedvale, police said. Officers were responding to a call of shots fired in the 4300 block of West Walton when they saw someone they wanted to question, police said.
Cannon saw the officers and took off running, according to Pat Camden, a spokesman for the Fraternal Order of Police. The boy had a gun in his hand and pointed it at the officers, Camden said. One of the pursuing officers fired several times, striking the boy, Camden said.
Cannon was carrying a BB gun, police sources said. He was taken to Stroger Hospital.
Police said the teen was charged as a juvenile with two felonies, aggravated assault to a police officer and criminal damage to property on July 26.
He'll appear for an initial hearing in juvenile court on Aug. 15, Cook County State's Attorney's office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton said.
Officials said his injuries were not life-threatening. The boy's mother, Kenyata Cannon, said her son was shot eight times: four times in the right leg, once in each shoulder and twice in the right hand.
He was on morphine and handcuffed by an ankle to his hospital bed. There was a police officer by him at all times.
His mother said she did not believe her son had a gun or pointed a gun at officers.
"He don't own any sort of gun," the mother said. "He told me the police was originally chasing another guy but he got panicked and scared and took off."
"The police told him to freeze so he stopped and put his hands up, but a police officer ran up on him and shot him from only a couple feet away. Even the doctor said it was from close range because all eight bullets went in and out," claimed the boy's father, Jimmie Porter.
Cannon's family said the boy is a good student heading into seventh grade at Piccolo Speciality School at 1040 N. Keeler. He had just transferred from Lowell School in another part of Humboldt Park after the family moved because their home was in foreclosure. Their new home is a block from where the boy was to start school.
Cannon and dozens of family and friends were attending a 17th birthday party for a cousin next to the playground on Piccolo School property when police chased the boy for a block before shooting him, his family said.
"There are dozens of witnesses," said his mother, who didn't see the incident herself because she had walked home. "He never gets into trouble in school or with the police," she said.
Added Porter: "My son is fighting for his life with eight holes in him. He don't hang out with gang bangers. He just hangs out with his brothers and plays basketball all day."
Porter is a tool and dye mechanic, while Cannon's mother said she works for the Illinois Department of Human Services.
Chicago Public Schools teachers who taught the boy and his siblings arrived in shock at the hospital emergency room entrance Tuesday.
"I know the family very well," said one teacher who asked not to be named because she was not authorized to speak to reporters.
"He's a baby. He's got no behavior problems. He's a doll. His mother is amazing. She works two jobs. Her kids are there and in uniform every day. She's like my inspiration as a mother. This is a kid who made more improvement in one year than any other student."
Another teacher agreed.
"He's so non-confrontational. He didn't curse. His mother would have killed him if he cursed," the teacher said.
The Independent Police Review Authority is investigating the shooting as are Harrison Area detectives.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2010. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
