{"id":6786,"date":"2015-12-28T09:00:32","date_gmt":"2015-12-28T17:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/relatives-of-2-killed-by-chicago-police-question-shootings\/"},"modified":"2015-12-28T09:00:32","modified_gmt":"2015-12-28T17:00:32","slug":"relatives-of-2-killed-by-chicago-police-question-shootings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/relatives-of-2-killed-by-chicago-police-question-shootings\/","title":{"rendered":"Relatives of 2 killed by Chicago police question shootings"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO \u2014 <\/strong>Grieving relatives and friends of two people shot and killed by Chicago police said Sunday the slayings raised concerns about why officers \u201cshoot first and ask questions later,\u201d adding that law enforcement officials had failed the city\u2019s residents.<\/p>\n

Quintonio LeGrier, 19, was killed early Saturday by police responding to a domestic disturbance, along with downstairs neighbor Bettie Jones, 55, police said.<\/p>\n

Jones was hit accidentally by the gunfire, the police said. Both victims were black.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me to just look at the news and see that she was shot down \u2014 a beautiful woman, a beautiful woman. It hurts my heart to see that,\u201d said Jacqueline Walker, a friend of Jones.<\/p>\n

At a news conference outside the West Side residence where the victims lived, Walker said police should use stun guns or other nonlethal methods instead.<\/p>\n

Why must police \u201cshoot first and ask questions later?\u201d Walker asked. \u201cIt\u2019s ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n

The shootings came amid scrutiny of police after a series of deaths of African-Americans at the hands of officers gave rise to the Black Lives Matter movement.<\/p>\n

The Chicago Police Department also is under a federal civil rights investigation that will look into patterns of racial disparity in the use of force, how the department disciplines officers and handles misconduct accusations.<\/p>\n

Family members and others at the news conference wore black T-shirts critical of Mayor Rahm Emanuel.<\/p>\n

LeGrier\u2019s mother, Janet Cooksey, told reporters that the police \u201care supposed to serve us and protect us, and yet they take the lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething just needs to be done,\u201d she added. \u201cI used to watch the news daily and I would grieve for other mothers, other family members, and now today I\u2019m grieving myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Chicago Police Department said in a statement Saturday that officers who responded to a 911 call \u201cwere confronted by a combative subject resulting in the discharging of the officer\u2019s weapon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 55-year-old female victim was accidentally struck and tragically killed,\u201d according to the statement, which extended \u201cdeepest condolences to the victim\u2019s family and friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones, a mother of five who had hosted family for Christmas, and LeGrier, a college student home for holiday break, were pronounced dead at hospitals, according to relatives and the Cook County medical examiner\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

Police did not disclose the race of the officer, saying only that those involved will be placed on administrative duties for 30 days while \u201ctraining and fitness for duty requirements can be conducted.\u201d It isn\u2019t clear how many officers responded, how many used their firearms and how many times both LeGrier and Jones were struck.<\/p>\n

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the officers\u2019 role in the shootings is being investigated by the city\u2019s Independent Police Review Authority, the main police oversight agency. He also said police can\u2019t comment.<\/p>\n

IPRA spokesman Larry Merritt also declined comment. He said Saturday it was \u201cvery early on in the investigation\u201d and he couldn\u2019t release further details.<\/p>\n

LeGrier\u2019s father, Antonio, told the Chicago Sun-Times he had invited his son to a family holiday gathering before the shootings but the younger man chose not to go. When the father returned to his second-floor apartment early Saturday, the son appeared to be a \u201clittle agitated,\u201d Antonio LeGrier said.<\/p>\n

The elder LeGrier said he heard loud banging on his locked bedroom door around 4:15 a.m. and that his son said, \u201cYou\u2019re not going to scare me.\u201d He said his son tried to bust the door open, but he kept him from doing so and called police. The father told the newspaper that he called Jones, who lived a floor below, and warned her that his son was a \u201clittle irate\u201d and not to open the door unless police arrived. He said Jones told him she saw his son outside with a baseball bat.<\/p>\n

When police arrived, Antonio LeGrier said he heard Jones yell, \u201cWhoa, whoa, whoa!\u201d He said he heard gunshots as he made his way down from the second floor and saw his son and Jones lying in the foyer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI identified myself as the father and I held my hands out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Antonio LeGrier told the Sun-Times his son had emotional problems after spending most of his childhood in foster care. LeGrier described him as a \u201cwhiz kid\u201d and said he was home on break from Northern Illinois University, where he majored in electrical engineering technology.<\/p>\n

Cooksey denied that her son exhibited \u201ccombative behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd for them to kill him and then disrespect him and say his behavior was that way \u2014 no, it was not,\u201d she said. \u201cHe might\u2019ve been angry with his father and they might\u2019ve got into it. … But he never had combative behavior.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy son was happy. He\u2019s not an angry child. He\u2019s not a violent child,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Accounts from relatives of the victims and family lawyers differed about what happened. It\u2019s not clear whether Jones tried to intervene before being shot or if she was hit while answering the door.<\/p>\n

Eric Russell, a lawyer for the Jones family, said Jones had answered the door and was met by gunfire, adding that it appears police shot from a distance.<\/p>\n

Another Jones family lawyer, Sam Adams Jr., said police took the hard drive of a home-security camera from across the street, but it was unknown if it or other cameras in the neighborhood captured the shooting.<\/p>\n

Emanuel\u2019s office issued a statement late Saturday that said the IPRA would share its evidence with the county prosecutor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnytime an officer uses force the public deserves answers, and regardless of the circumstances, we all grieve anytime there is a loss of life in our city,\u201d Emanuel said in the statement.<\/p>\n

The federal civil rights investigation was launched after last month\u2019s release of police dashcam video showing white officer Jason Van Dyke shooting black 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times in 2014. The video\u2019s release has led to protests, the forced resignation of Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy and calls for Emanuel to step down. It is not clear whether there are any video recordings of Saturday\u2019s shootings.<\/p>\n

The Rev. Jesse Jackson and U.S. Rep. Danny Davis were among about 100 neighbors, activists and others who attended a vigil later Sunday for Jones and LeGrier outside their home. A sign held by one person read, \u201cStop Killing Us,\u201d and several chanted, \u201cThis is not an accident!\u201d<\/p>\n

Some put candles on the porch and Cooksey placed flowers on the railing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO \u2014 Grieving relatives and friends of two people shot and killed by Chicago police said Sunday the slayings raised concerns about why officers \u201cshoot first and ask questions later,\u201d adding that law enforcement officials had failed the city\u2019s residents. Quintonio LeGrier, 19, was killed early Saturday by police responding to a domestic disturbance, along […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[65],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-6786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-nation-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6786\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6786"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=6786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}