Many Questions After Beloved Building Custodian Is Shot And Killed By CPD Officer Responding To Domestic Call In Auburn Gresham
CHICAGO (CBS)-- A well-liked custodian in an Auburn Gresham apartment building is dead after being shot by police Monday morning.
The Chicago Police Department confirmed the officer was responding to a domestic call, just after 7:30 a.m. in the 7700 block of South Carpenter Street, when the man was shot and killed.
A woman who was inside the second floor of the apartment building at the time of the incident is at a local hospital undergoing observation.
As CBS 2's Chris Tye reported, a 7-year-old child was present watching the scene unfold.
Central questions remain – including why police fired, and whether the man or the woman was the aggressor. Meanwhile, neighbors said they lost a gem of a man.
Police said when they arrived at the scene and opened the door of a top-floor apartment, they saw a domestic dispute with a knife in progress.
"The officers observed a domestic disturbance, a domestic altercation coming from within," Deputy Chief Rahman Muhammad said. "At that point, shots were fired. The responding officer discharged his service weapon, striking an individual."
That is the depth of what police are sharing about what set this off.
Neighbors said the man police shot and killed was the building's custodian, who lived in the unit with his girlfriend. Neighbors also said the custodian cared deeply for the neighborhood.
"Every day it was routine," said Maurice Hall. "He would come out. He would clean up."
Hall knew the 61-year-old well. He said says beyond the custodian's care for the community, what stood out was his calm.
"I've never seen him aggressive. I've never seen him raise his voice," Hall said.
Kenneth Hughes is also a friend of the custodian.
"Oh wow," Hughes said. "I was just with him yesterday with him. We went to the bank."
Hughes told us there were often disturbances in the unit, and the voices made it clear - they were triggered by the girlfriend.
"He was a gentle guy," Hughes said.
As police spent the start of the afternoon removing evidence, a little boy spent the start of his school week entangled in all this.
Over dispatch radio, and officer was heard saying: "I have a male Black 7-year-old that was downstairs when we came in. We had him stay downstairs. I got him. But the next-door neighbor says they can watch him."
That boy is said to be OK.
the officer involved is on 30-day leave pending the investigation.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability was on scene Monday morning. They are investigating.
