IPRA Releases 911 Calls Made By Quintonio LeGrier On Morning He Was Fatally Shot By Chicago Police Officer
(CBS) -- The Independent Police Review Authority has released tapes of three 911 calls made by Quintonio LeGrier asking for help before he was shot and killed by a Chicago Police officer.
At 4:18 a.m. the day after Christmas, 19-year-old Quintonio LeGrier called for an officer to come to his home.
He only identified himself as "Q" and refused to elaborate on what was happening, but repeatedly asked 911 to send the police, and said someone was threatening him. In his first call, a 911 dispatcher hung up after LeGrier declined to answer questions about the situation:
LeGrier: "I just need an officer over here, okay?"
Dispatcher: "No, it don't work like that. What's your emergency?"
LeGrier: "I need to talk to an officer."
Dispatcher: "Okay, What's wrong?"
LeGrier: "I need to talk to an officer."
Dispatcher: "You can talk to an officer over the phone. I can connect you to one if you want."
LeGrier: "Someone's threatening my life."
Dispatcher: "Is the person with you there now?"
LeGrier: "Yes."
Dispatcher: "Are you in a house, or an apartment?"
LeGrier: "In a house."
Dispatcher: "And your name?"
LeGrier: "Q."
Dispatcher: "What's the last name?"
LeGrier: "Can you just send an officer?"
Dispatcher: "Yeah, when you answer the question."
LeGrier: "There's an emergency, can you please send an officer?"
Dispatcher: "Yeah, as soon as you answer these questions. What's your last name?"
LeGrier: "There's an emergency,"
Dispatcher: "If you can't answer the question, I'm going to hang up,"
LeGrier: "I need the police."
Dispatcher: "Terminating the call."
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The teenager called 911 two more times asking someone to send police, but his pleas went nowhere.
It wasn't until LeGrier's father, Antonio, called police three minutes after his son's 911 call that dispatchers sent police to the home. Legrier's father sounded panicked as he called 911 and a banging noise can be heard in the background. He told police that his son had a baseball bat in his hands and was trying to break into his bedroom.
Officers arrived a short time later. One officer opened fire, claiming Quintonio LeGrier was belligerent and swinging a bat at him.
LeGrier was killed. 55-year-old Bettie Jones, a resident in the building, also died when she was hit by a stray bullet.
OEMC says they discovered the circumstances around the two calls after an internal review and immediately began an internal disciplinary process.
"All takers are required to ask specific questions to determine the nature of the event, determine if such a request warrants and emergency response and dispatch proper resources. Call takers follow specific protocols and may only terminate a call as a last resort," an OEMC spokeswoman said.
Bill Foutris, an attorney for Quintonio LeGrier's family told CBS 2 that he found the tapes "disturbing" and that the dispatcher ignored his cries for help.
"The reality is every Chicago employee who interacted with Quintonio acted improperly- whether they hung up the phone or shot him in the back," Foutris said.
Larry Rogers, an attorney for the family of Bettie Jones, said the system failed Quintonio LeGrier.
"He was the one that requested the officers to come first. He wanted their assistance. He used the system designed to summon help, and it completely failed him," he said.
Rogers also said the investigation of the shooting that killed LeGrier and Jones should be expanded to review the dispatchers who took the teenager's calls.
"We need to expand this investigation to look into how these dispatchers thought it was appropriate to hang up on a young man who called and requested police officer assistance; someone who informed the police dispatchers that his life had been threatened and he needed help. How could you ever hang up on someone like that?" he said.
OEMC says the call-taker who handled the first call at 4:18 a.m. will remain in service until the discipline process is finished.
