Tag Archives: police

Police officer and two employees were killed in Chicago hospital shooting

Chicago (CNN)- A police officer, a doctor and a pharmaceutical assistant were killed after a Monday afternoon shooting at Chicago’s Mercy Hospital, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said.

The shooting was a domestic incident see as the gunman’s first victim was a woman he had previously had a relationship with, said Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie T. Johnson.
The gunman also died, though it is unclear whether he died from police gunfire or a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Johnson said.
In a statement Monday, Mercy Hospital named its employees killed in the shooting as emergency room physician Tamara O’Neal and pharmacy resident Dayna Less — a 25-year-old recent graduate of Purdue University.
The hospital paid tribute to police and security staff, saying it was “deeply saddened by the tragedy.”
“Every shooting in America is a tragedy, and it is especially senseless when a shooting occurs in the healing space of a hospital,” it said.
Chicago Police identified the deceased officer as Samuel Jimenez, a father of three. He joined the force in February 2017 and recently completed probationary training, becoming a full-fledged officer, Johnson said. A procession was held for him Monday night.

Chicago police to target ‘large, unsanctioned street parties’ in effort to combat violence

Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson took another step aimed at preventing a repeat of last weekend’s gun violence.

Johnson said he will be cracking down on potentially dangerous large gatherings. The superintendent said the department has been dissecting what happened last weekend and found a link between shootings and “large, unsanctioned street parties.”

After a heartbreaking weekend filled with gunshots and grief Johnson said this weekend will be different. He said 20 percent of last weekend’s shooting victims were attending large, unauthorized street parties so with up to 600 extra officers on patrol some will be monitoring those types of gatherings.

“I would guess that a lot of those gatherings probably had a gangs nexus to it, or rival gangs saw them out there and they decided to do what they do. In a lot of instances they don’t care who they shoot,” Johnson said.

Police are focusing on five districts: Calumet and Gresham on the city’s South Side, and Ogden, Harrison, and Austin on the West Side.

Learn more about the story from WGN-TV.

UPDATE: Man charged, 3 held after shooting, wild funeral procession from city

A still from dashcam video provided by Hillside police

(HILLSIDE) A Chicago man has been charged and three others are being held in connection with a series of shootings Tuesday during a funeral procession from Chicago to the west suburbs.

The mayhem started with a report of shots fired just before 1 p.m. outside a funeral service at Prince of Peace Church, 5450 W. Van Buren St., in the West Side Austin neighborhood, according to Chicago and Hillside police.

Following the service, the funeral procession headed west toward Oakridge Cemetery at 4301 Roosevelt Road, Hillside Police Chief Joseph Lukaszek said.

Forest Park police alerted authorities in Hillside as the rowdy group drove through the village and got onto the Eisenhower Expressway. By the time the procession approached Hillside, callers were reporting a person firing a gun from an SUV near the off-ramp for Mannheim Road, Lukaszek said.

The procession was “total chaos,” with passengers were hanging out of the vehicles’ windows and driving in and out of traffic as they headed toward the cemetery, Lukaszek said.

Officers located the SUV from the expressway shooting and trailed it, Lukaszek said.

Worried the car would take off, the chief said he had a split-second decision to make when he saw the SUV try to squeeze through traffic near Mannheim and Hillside roads as it was pursued by officers.

“I could see a gun in the driver’s hand,” Lukaszek said. “He was holding the gun in one hand, the steering wheel with the other, and I just thought we have to end it.”

Police dashcam video captured the chaotic scene as Lukaszek sped forward in his patrol car and rammed the SUV on the rear driver’s side panel. After the SUV was struck, the driver sped away to a Burger King parking lot, where it was rammed by police again.

A brief foot chase followed and four people were taken into custody.

The driver, 24-year-old Marcus Davis of Chicago, was charged Wednesday with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, Lukaszek said. He was expected to appear in court Thursday in Maywood.

Two men and a woman — all in their 20s — were still in police custody with charges pending, Lukaszek said.

After the crash, investigators found three handguns with high-capacity magazines and high-impact ammunition, Lukaszek said in a statement. Between the four taken into custody, they had been arrested more than 160 times.

Lukaszek said the shootings and general mayhem displayed during the funeral procession were believed to be gang related. Problems with funeral processions from Chicago occur on a “nearly weekly” basis in the suburbs, he said.

In February, 36-year-old Sirkarl Freeman, of the Lawndale neighborhood, was gunned down during a funeral at Oakridge Cemetery, authorities said.

Chicago Police usually notify local authorities when such a procession is headed their way, Lukaszek said.

“Typically, [Chicago Police] do a good job keeping us in the loop,” Lukaszek said.

No one was wounded in the shootings, but several officers were treated for injuries related to the crash, Lukaszek said.

WannaCry ransomware cyber-attacks, good news about the police, Rick Morrissey of the Sun-Times talks about Ronnie Woo Woo, plus the Celebrity report to the nation, and more! – 5/15/17


WannaCry ransomware cyber-attacks, good news about the police, Rick Morrissey of the Sun-Times talks about Ronnie Woo Woo, plus the Celebrity report to the nation, and more!

Chicago police union: Head to meet Trump officials

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago’s police union says its head will meet members of President Donald Trump’s administration and that deadly violence in the nation’s third largest city is expected to be on the agenda.

A Fraternal Order of Police statement doesn’t say if Trump could participate in the Washington meeting. But it notes the Republican president, in the union’s words, has referenced “bloodshed and shootings” that seem to have Chicago in a “death grip.”

It didn’t provide details on when Chicago police union leader Dean Angelo will meet White House officials.

The Department of Justice released a report in January that concluded civil rights abuses permeated Chicago’s 12,000-officer force. The next step is an agreement on reforms. But the union endorsed Trump for president and activists worry Trump won’t press for sweeping reforms.

 

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Police: Shots fired at CPD officers for 4th time in a week

(CHICAGO) Shots were fired at Chicago Police officers Tuesday night in the South Side Auburn Gresham neighborhood, marking at least the fourth time officers have come under fire in about a week.

About 7:30 p.m. shots were fired at officers in the 1100 block of West 86th Street, police said. No one was hurt, and a person of interest was being questioned, police said.

Last Friday, five people were arrested after a five-hour standoff with a police SWAT team that started when someone opened fire on a CPD supervisor in the South Chicago neighborhood.

Two men have been charged with shooting at CPD and FBI investigators Nov. 28 on the Southwest Side, and another accused of shooting at officers after shooting a pregnant woman in West Garfield Park was fatally shot by police Nov. 27.

Video appears to show man pointing gun before police shoot him

(CHICAGO) Video from the scene of a police-involved shooting in Mount Greenwood this weekend appears to show a man pointing a gun in the direction of police moments before he was fatally shot by an officer.

Chicago Police said they are analyzing a similar still taken from video footage shot at 111th and Troy. That’s where 25-year-old Joshua Beal of Indianapolis was killed Saturday afternoon after what authorities said was a road-rage incident involving a family that had just left a cemetery after burying a loved one.

But Britnie Nelson of Hickory Hills, a witness who videotaped the incident as it unfolded, insisted Beal didn’t point a weapon, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

The still image does not resolve the confusion over what happened in the moments before Beal’s shooting. For example, police are still awaiting ballistics tests to determine if Beal’s weapon was fired or misfired. One family member said he never fired the weapon that he had a license to carry.

Investigators from the Independent Police Review Authority, which investigates police shootings, were interviewing several witnesses and are taking steps to authenticate the videos and images that had been circulated, according IPRA spokeswoman Mia Sissac.

Sissac added that it appears multiple guns were fired in the shooting.

“While it is still early in the investigation, we can confirm that early ballistic evidence suggests that multiple firearms were discharged. It is our hope that people will wait until all evidence is in before making any conclusions about what happened yesterday evening,” Sissac said.

It all unfolded after Beal and his family left the burial of a relative who had been murdered in Indianapolis, according to a woman who identified Beal as her cousin. Video taken at the scene shows the incident led to a heated melee in the middle of 111th — with police, firefighters and pedestrians scattered amid the traffic.

Police and witnesses, meanwhile, gave vastly different accounts of what happened:

Police said the incident began about 3 p.m. Saturday in the 3100 block of West 111th Street, when an off-duty Chicago firefighter began to argue with motorists in a funeral procession who were blocking a fire lane. Police said the argument became “verbal and physical.”

An off-duty police officer was in a barbershop and saw the fight. He went into the street and identified himself as a cop, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.

That’s when a uniformed sergeant driving to work at the nearby Morgan Park police station stopped and got out of his vehicle. The sergeant also announced he was a cop, Guglielmi said. In an earlier news release, the department said the sergeant observed “a male with a firearm in his hand.”

Both the off-duty officer and the sergeant pulled their weapons and fired at a man holding a gun when he failed to drop the weapon, Guglielmi said.

It’s unclear whether one or both of them hit the man, he said.

“Police suspect the offender’s weapon was fired or misfired during the exchange, and we are testing it,” Guglielmi said.

Nelson also said the incident began at the firehouse, where a firefighter got into an argument with the mourners, who were already distraught.

She said they continued arguing at 111th and Troy when a man in a red shirt “comes out of nowhere,” announced that he was a police officer and started swinging his gun around. She said the man went around to the passenger side of the car Beal was in and opened fire on him.

Guglielmi said the off-duty officer was injured in the melee and was sent to a hospital for treatment. The sergeant was not seriously injured, he said.

“The officer(s) involved will be placed on routine administrative duties for a period of 30 days,” police said in a statement.

About 10 demonstrators calling for police accountability in Beal’s death returned Sunday afternoon to the scene of the shooting and were met by a jeering crowd of more than 200 people, including several dozen members of a pro-law enforcement motorcycle club.

Chants of “Indict. Convict. Send those killer cops to jail. The whole damn system is guilty as hell” were met by chants of “CPD!” and “Stop shooting cops!” as well as a rendition of the Star Spangled Banner by motorcyclists in leather vests.

A line of Chicago Police Officers, many on bikes, formed around the small group of protesters who slammed the police department in a neighborhood filled with cops. Many from the crowd yelled at the demonstrators to “Go home!” A few waved signs reading “Support Law Enforcement. We won’t take your crap” and “We support CPD. Why are you here?”

A few hours later, members of the Black Lives Matter movement held a news conference in front of a South Side police station with members of the Beal family.

Beal’s sister, Cordney Boxley, asked: “Are we not important? Do our lives not matter? I thought racism was dead. But as I always stated, history repeats itself.”

When shown a still image of a man holding the gun at the scene of the shooting and asked to comment, Boxley said, “As far as that is concerned if you want to know anything legal about this case, you can contact our attorneys.”

“We don’t have any comment at this point,” said attorney Barry Spector, who is representing the Beal family and was reached late Sunday by phone.

Meanwhile, Democratic Cook County State’s Attorney candidate Kim Foxx said during a campaign stop that the question of whether the shooting was justified “will be worked out.” But she also added: “It’s deeply concerning.”

A spokeswoman for Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez did not return a call seeking comment. Beal’s autopsy revealed he suffered multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.

When a wig looks like a child…

John Howell and Ray Stevens discussed this morning how police officers in Suffolk, Virginia noticed a child in a locked car, and naturally decided it was necessary to break windows to save the child.

Suffolk police responded to the call near Northern Shores Elementary School, hoping to save a young child’s life. Screenshot from ABC 5 Cleveland
Suffolk police responded to the call near Northern Shores Elementary School, hoping to save a young child’s life.

Little did they know, it was not a child!

“What child has as much hair as a wig would have,” exclaimed Jen DeSalvo.

Big John explained that a “follically” blessed child could possibly possess as much.

It appears that the woman is, however, responsible for the damages to her car. Let it be known that she doesn’t have any children.

 

Source: Police break car window to save child, make unexpected find | WAVY-TV

Police warn of robberies on Near North Side

(CHICAGO) Police are warning residents of two robberies that occurred on the Near North Side neighborhood earlier this week.

In each incident, a male walked up to victims on the street, pulled out a handgun and demanded personal property, according to a community alert from Chicago Police.

The first robbery happened about 11 a.m. Thursday in the 0-100 block of West Hubbard Street and then about 7:30 a.m. Friday in the 300 block of North State Street, police said.

The suspect was described as a black male with a dark complexion, between 15 and 20 years old, standing 5-foot-5 to 5-foot-6 and weighing 145-155 pounds. He wore a hooded sweatshirt and jeans, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Area Central detectives at (312) 747-8382.

US Atty: Chicago Gangs Emboldened 

By Bill Cameron, WLS-AM News

 At the City Club Monday afternoon, U.S. Attorney Zach Fardon was conceding there has been a downside to the recent moves in favor of more police accountability.

 Fardon is acknowledging that putting the police under a microscope is having two negative impacts on enforcing the law.

 “I believe there was a hit on CPD morale and a drag on officer willingness to conduct stops,” Fardon said. “There has in fact been a major drop this year in the number of street stops officers are conducting. I also think the fallout on public confidence has created a sense of emboldenment [sic] among gangs especially in our most violent-afflicted neighborhoods. Some gang members, apparently,  have felt they could get away with more and so more bullets started flying.”

 He also said the pattern and practice civil rights investigation of the Chicago police department is moving forward at “a record pace” but he made no predictions on when a report may be coming.

@ 2016 WLS-AM

Delay in Grand Jury Police Probe

By Nick Gale, WLS-AM News

(CHICAGO)  Plans for a grand jury to consider charges against Chicago police in the Laquan McDonald case have been been put on hold as the special prosecutor says she needs more time.

A judge has giver special prosecutor Patricia Brown Holmes more time to prepare. Holmes says she needs more time to collect thousands of pages of documents pertinent to the case.

The judge had hoped to enpanel a grand jury this week.  Holmes hopes to be able to present evidence to a grand jury by the end of the year.

Officer Jason Van Dyke is accused of shooting McDonald 16 times in October of 2014. A police dash-cam video captured the shooting.

Holmes was appointed earlier this year to investigate if there was a possible police cover-up in the case.

@ 2016 WLS-AM News

Eddie Johnson with Big John and Ray:  More cops just “a piece of the puzzle.”

By John Dempsey, WLS-AM News

(CHICAGO) Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson was on WLS this morning, talking about Mayor Emanuel’s multi-faceted crime-fighting strategy.    Johnson told “The Big John and Ray Show” that he agrees with Emanuel that while the city  more needs police officers , police are not the only answer.   “You know these extra officers and the police in general, you know we’re a piece of this puzzle but not the entire puzzle. The violence in our city and the crime overall is a result of socio-economic ills , not the police department.  So we have to fix the other parts of it in order for this crime to come down, but I will say this, the additional officers will give us a bit of relief.”

Listen to Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson on WLS’ Big John and Ray Show here. 

In his long awaited crime control speech Thursday night, Emanuel pledged to hire more officers, but was not clear on how the city would pay for them.    Johnson told WLS he does not have that answer either, but he says he’s not supposed to.    “You know, I fight crime” Johnson said,  “At the end of the day you know, I am a cop.  So that’s what I do, so the financial part of it you know, I’ll leave it to the Mayor and his smart people over there at the hall.  He has assured me that we’ll have those resources but how they’re paying for it, I couldn’t tell you.”

In his speech at Malcolm X college, Emanuel also talked about implementing a three year mentoring program to provide support to over 7,000 at-risk youth in Chicago.   The Mayor also called on Illinois lawmakers to toughen penalties for gun crimes, something black lawmakers from Chicago have thwarted in the past, out of concern that harsher gun laws would unfairly target African-Americans.

Eddie Johnson told WLS he is currently talking with those lawmakers about drafting a law that would address the real need the city has to make sure repeat offenders are kept behind bars for longer periods of time.    “I think that the legislators are coming around now because before we didn’t have concealed carry and you know the sentencing that I’m looking for is not mandatory.  It’s focused at repeat gun offenders so that’s not casting a net over the minority population.  It’s more like using a spear to focus on the guys that are consistently telling us they don’t want to play by the rules of society.   The way we want it to go is that repeat gun offenders would be sentenced on the mid to high end range of sentencing as opposed to giving them lighter sentences.”

During the WLS interview, Johnson admitted that police morale has suffered in recent months.    “We swore an oath to protect the citizens of Chicago and I see the rank and file doing that, however I will say this; the level of disrespect and then just the scrutiny going on across the country in terms of law enforcement is tough.  They are keenly aware of that and no one wants to be the next viral video and let’s face facts.   They’re human, they have families to take care of and careers so they are aware of what’s going on but they are still engaged and our gun arrests bear that out, but they are concerned about what’s going on.”

Johnson ended the interview by saying he has no regrets about taking the Superintendent’s job, despite the pressure and stress.   “You know I enjoy my job.  I have a chance to make real change and impact the citizens of Chicago for the better and also the rank and file, so I love what I do.”

@ 2016 WLS-AM News

 

Chicago passes 512 murders for 2016 after deadly Labor Day weekend

By John Dempsey, WLS-AM 890 News
(CHICAGO) After another violent Labor Day weekend in Chicago, the city has now recorded 512 murders for 2016, more murders than in all of 2015.    65 people were shot over the Labor Day weekend, 13 of them killed.
42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly talked about the statistics with Bob Sirott and Marianne Murciano on “The Big John and Ray Show” on WLS, saying the numbers prove clearly that it is time for the city to hire more police officers.     The Police department says it is currently short 468 officers.   That has happened because so many officers have retired in recent years, and the city has not been able to afford to replace them, because it does not have the money to pay health and pension expenses for new employees.
To try and fight the current crime epidemic, the city has instead spent $120 million dollars in overtime, but Alderman Reilly told WLS that is clearly not working.
“Now is the hire to hire more police officers.  $120 million a year in overtime budgeting is not accomplishing the goal, clearly, in looking at the crime stats.   It’s also wearing down our officers.  When you’ve got officers working 65, 70 hours a week, judgement calls may not be as crisp as you would hope.  And people make mistakes.   So I do think that the Mayor is right to highlight this as a budget priority.”
Reilly also says even more officers are expected to retire next year, making the manpower shortage more acute.     Last week Mayor Emanuel says he wanted to find the money to finally hire more cops, but he did not say where that money might come from.
© WLS-AM 890 News

Chicago Police rebuke Trump on Chicago Crime Story

By John Dempsey, WLS-AM 890 News
(CHICAGO) The Chicago Police department says Donald Trump is wrong, when he claims that someone in a high ranking police position told him they could eliminate the city’s crime problem by being tougher on citizens.

Trump made the claim Monday night in an interview on Fox News’ “O’Reilly Factor” , saying “When I was in Chicago I got to meet a couple of very top police. I said ‘How do you stop this, how do you stop this, if you were put in charge to a specific person, do you think you could stop it? He said ‘Mr. Trump, I’d be able to stop it in one week.’ And I believed him 100 percent. He wants to use tough police tactics.”

​Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says no one in the department’s senior command structure has ever met with Trump or his campaign staff. Guglielmi told the Associated Press that
crime is best addressed by community policing and keeping illegal guns and repeat violent offenders off the street. As of Monday, homicides in Chicago totaled 441. That’s up from 296 at the same time last year.

Carjacking suspect charged in shooting that wounded CPD officer

Charles Lawson | Chicago Police photo

(CHICAGO) A 24-year-old carjacking suspect who was on probation for armed robbery has been charged in a shooting that wounded a Chicago Police officer during a high-speed chase Tuesday night on the South Side.

Charles Lawson opened fire on squad cars chasing him as he sped around the Roseland neighborhood in a car he had reportedly stolen, and 35-year-old Officer Brandon McDonald sustained a graze wound in his face in the melee, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

Despite his injury, McDonald rejoined the chase after he and his partner pulled over to check the wound, according to dashcam video of the chase released by CPD on Wednesday, after charges against McDonald were filed.

“I’m f—— shot. I’m hit! I’m hit,” McDonald can be heard saying on the video. After checking the extent of his wounds, McDonald can be heard again before they resume their pursuit: “F – – – this s – – -. Let’s go get him.”

Lawson was charged with four counts of attempted murder, aggravated battery, possession of a stolen vehicle, aggravated hijacking and aggravated fleeing and eluding police, Chicago Police said.

About 10 p.m. Tuesday in the 600 block of East 100th Place, McDonald and his partner began tailing Lawson, who was riding in a black sedan matching the description of one reported stolen in a car-jacking moments earlier. After accelerating away from the officers, the chase began in earnest. After a few blocks, a gunshot is heard on the video, then another a few seconds later. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Tuesday that McDonald’s face was wounded as he sped behind Lawson in the 10000 block of South Eggleston.

As McDonald and his partner swerve to the side of the street, a second police vehicle takes the lead position in the pursuit, with officers reporting more gunshots before opening fire on Lawson’s sedan. Though a dozen gunshots were heard on the dashcam video, Guglielmi said Lawson was not struck.

On the video, Lawson’s vehicle can be seen swerving and colliding with a parked car, then coming to a stop as smoke rises from the front end of his car. Lawson tosses a pistol out the window onto the street before climbing out of the driver’s seat and crawling onto the ground.

Both videos capture McDonald storming up from his damaged squad car and marching the handcuffed Lawson into the back seat, cursing the suspect out as they walk.

“You’ll never see the light of day, son,” he tells the suspect as he stuffs Lawson into the back of the squad.

In police radio traffic picked up by the dashcam, officers report seeing someone “bailing out” of the car during the chase before Lawson crashed. From the back seat, Lawson seems to put the blame for the gunfire on his errant passenger.

“It wasn’t me, man,” Lawson shouts as McDonald walks away. “Y’all didn’t see him get out, man?”

Police didn’t mention another suspect in their statement. Department of Corrections records show Lawson served three months in prison on two counts of armed robbery without a firearm, and had been out on parole for less than four months.

McDonald was treated at Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn for injuries that were not life-threatening. At the hospital Tuesday night, Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said McDonald would be fine, and that the shootout was an example of both the dangers of police work and the problem of repeat offenders finding ways to get firearms.

“The officer injured will be OK, but it just goes to show you, again, how people are out here with all these weapons and they’re not afraid to use them,” Johnson said.

“These police officers have a difficult job, every day, you know, they put their lives on the line,” he said. “We get scrutinized and criticized for everything we do, this is a difficult job, but they continue to do it despite everything going on. These officers knew that was a vehicle taken in a carjacking and they went to the vehicle, as opposed to away from it. The men and women of the Chicago Police Department are doing what they’re supposed to do, but this just illustrates how dangerous it is.”

At a press conference Wednesday, Johnson noted McDonald and his partner had been on patrol in the same neighborhood when they came across an elderly woman who appeared disoriented. The two officers figured out where the woman lived, and when they returned with her, discovered she had little food. In a story that was featured on local news, and became a viral hit, the two officers went to a nearby Jewel and returned with groceries for the woman, paid for out of their own pocket.

– Chicago Sun-Times

Police Searching After Two Found Dead in Sycamore

By Nick Gale, WLS-AM 890 News

(SYCAMORE)Police in Sycamore are warning residents to be on alert after a mother and her son were found dead in their home.

DeKalb County Sheriffs officers says it appears that the home off of Old State Road was burglarized. Inside they found 85-year-old Patricia Wilson and her 64-year-old son, Robert​ Wilson. They were found dead from apparent blunt force trauma around 6 p.m. Monday night. The person or persons responsible made off with a stolen white, 2010 four-door Chevrolet Impala with an Illinois license plate of 903 0980.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the DeKalb County sheriff’s office

Milwaukee Protests Break Out After Police Shooting

[van id=”us/2016/08/14/milwaukee-violence-police-shooting-young-newday.cnn”]

Angry crowds took to the streets in Milwaukee on Saturday night to protest the fatal shooting of an armed man by a police officer. CNN’s Ryan Young reports.

 

Shots fired in second night of Milwaukee protests
By Madison Park, Emanuella Grinberg and Joe Sutton, CNN
 

For a second night, violent protests rocked Milwaukee over the police shooting of an armed African-American man. At least two people were injured after shots were fired and objects hurled during the protest early Monday, police said.

 

One victim was shot during the Monday unrest and rushed to a hospital in an armored vehicle. A police officer was injured and also taken to the hospital after a rock broke the windshield of a squad car, according to Milwaukee Police. The damage was not as extensive as the protests from the previous night.

 

The death of Sylville Smith, 23, triggered unrest hours after his killing on Saturday as protesters torched six businesses, including a gas station, burned cars and threw rocks at officers. During the first night of protests, four officers were injured and 17 people were arrested, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said.

 

Protests resumed Sunday and carried into early Monday morning as protesters began swarming a Milwaukee police station, blocking the street.
Later on, shots rang out in three different locations, all within close proximity, according to police. A squad car was pelted with bricks, rocks and glass bottles. Another car was also set aflame during Monday’s fracas.

 

Police moved in to arrest several protesters and by 2:30 a.m. local time, reported that it was restoring order to a hot spot in a northern Milwaukee neighborhood.
The turbulent weekend prompted Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to declare a state of emergency on Sunday. But the National Guard was not deployed Monday as local police sought to restore order.

 

What happened in the shooting
The incident began when a pair of police officers stopped Smith and another person in a car on Saturday about 3:30 p.m., police said. The men fled the car and the officers followed, shooting Smith in the arm and chest when he failed to put his gun down, Barrett said.

 

The handgun, along with 500 rounds of ammunition, were stolen during a burglary in nearby Waukesha in March, police said.
Police body camera footage showed Smith holding a handgun during the encounter, Barrett said at a Sunday news conference. Police said the officer shot Smith after he failed to comply with orders to put his gun down. His gun was loaded with 23 rounds, more than the officer was carrying.

 

Smith died at the scene, and the African-American officer who fired the fatal shots was not injured. The unidentified officer is 24 years old and has six years of service with the Milwaukee Police Department — three as an officer. He will be placed on administrative duty during an investigation.

 

The shooting occurred near the location of an August 9 double homicide in which a man was shot dead and another was fatally stabbed, police said.
Smith’s sister, Kimberly Neal, remembered a brother who “kept it real,” a high school graduate who played basketball, a contrast to “the man with a lengthy arrest record” described by police.

 

“He should have been tased, if anything,” she said. “We want everybody to feel our pain.”
Although the National Guard was activated in response to the unrest, it will not be deployed unless authorized by Milwaukee police chief Edward Flynn, Barrett said. By state law, the Wisconsin Department of Justice will lead the investigation.

 

Residents try to heal after intense weekend
Sunday evening had initially begun peacefully as residents had gathered to mourn Smith as his family and friends held a candlelight vigil at the site of Saturday’s shooting in a residential area of North Milwaukee. At one point, the crowd chanted “ready for war,” followed by a a chant of “peace, peace, peace.”

 

Smith’s sister, Sherelle Smith, condemned violence carried out in her brother’s name, saying the community needs those businesses.
“Don’t bring that violence here,” Kimberly Neal, another sister, said, sobbing as she lamented that she would never be able to again hug her brother.
Residents also came into the streets with trash bags, brooms and shovels to sweep up the debris from burnt down businesses.

 

Tensions on Sunday gave way to prayers as activists gathered to call for peace.
A group of about 100 gathered at the park near a BP gas station that was burned during Saturday’s protests. Crowds ebbed and flowed at the station throughout Sunday; as night fell, community and church leaders led a prayer circle and spoke of a community that needs healing from ongoing “racism, injustices and oppression.”
‘Racial problems’ in Milwaukee

 

City Alderman Khalif Rainey said the area has been a “powder keg” for potential violence throughout the summer.
“What happened tonight may not have been right and I am not justifying that but no one can deny the fact that there are problems, racial problems in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that need to be rectified,” Rainey said. “This community of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has become the worst place to live for African-Americans in the entire country.”
Rainey said Saturday’s violence was a byproduct of inequities, injustice, unemployment and under-education.
“Something has to be done to address these issues,” he said. “The black people of Milwaukee are tired; they are tired of living under this oppression, this is their life.”

 

The Milwaukee mayor on Sunday said that the damage from Saturday’s unrest was “unlike anything I’ve seen,” he said. “I hope I never see it again.”
“A young man lost his life yesterday afternoon. And, no matter what the circumstances, his family must be hurting.”

The-CNN-Wire ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

Man kicked in head by cop re-arrested and charged

CHICAGO (AP) — A man videoed getting kicked in the head by a Chicago police officer as he was struggling with another officer has been re-arrested.

Shaquille O’Neal was released Wednesday when prosecutors decided his case needed further investigation before charges are filed. Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says O’Neal resisted when he was re-arrested Thursday, prompting officers to use a Taser to subdue him.

O’Neal was originally arrested Monday after running from officers who spotted him making a drug deal. The officer videoed kicking him has been relieved of his police powers pending an investigation.

The 33-year-old O’Neal is charged with aggravated battery and possession of a controlled substance in connection with Monday’s arrest. He is charged with aggravated battery and resisting arrest in connection with Thursday’s arrest.

It wasn’t immediately known if O’Neal has legal representation.

 

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Johnson asks IPRA to investigate video of officer kicking man

(CHICAGO) Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson has asked the Independent Police Review Authority to open an investigation after a newly posted video appears to show an officer kicking a man in the head as another officer tried to arrest the man.

The video, posted to Facebook on Monday, appears to show an officer struggling to arrest a man in the 3900 block of West Grenshaw. Another officer pulls up and orders onlookers to step back. He then radios for assistance before walking over to the man on the ground — who was still trying to get away — and apparently kicking him in the head.

After the kick, several other people took their cellphones out to record the incident and photograph the officer’s squad car.

One person yelled: “Y’all gonna die. Y’all gonna end up dead.”

In an email Monday night, Chicago Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Johnson has asked the Independent Police Review Authority to open an investigation into the incident.

Guglielmi added that the Chicago Police Internal Affairs Division “is preparing a briefing for the superintendent concerning the officer’s status.”

As of 9:30 p.m. Monday, the video had been viewed more than 260,000 times.

Police SUV involved in two-car crash in Auburn Gresham

A police SUV was involved in a two-car crash Wednesday night in Auburn Gresham. | Network Video Productions

(CHICAGO) A police SUV was involved in a two-car crash Wednesday night in the South Side Auburn Gresham neighborhood.

The police SUV and four-door car crashed about 10 p.m. in the 7600 block of South Halsted Street, according to Chicago Police. Minor injuries were reported at the scene, but the number of victims and their hospital information were not immediately available.

Additional details were not immediately available.

Drew Peterson defense expected to begin calling witnesses

CHESTER, Ill. (AP) — Lawyers for former suburban Chicago police officer Drew Peterson are expected to start calling witnesses at his trial on murder-for-hire charges.

Peterson is accused of trying to hire someone while in prison to kill former Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow, who helped convict Peterson in 2012 of killing Peterson’s third wife, Kathleen Savio, eight years earlier. The state Supreme Court is reviewing the conviction.

Peterson is serving a 38-year sentence, but could get another 60 years if he’s convicted in the murder-for-hire case.

Among the evidence prosecutors presented were secret recordings of Peterson talking with a prison informant.

Savio’s death was initially deemed accidental. Glasgow reopened the case after the 2007 disappearance of Stacy Peterson, Peterson’s 23-year-old fourth wife. Peterson was never charged in her disappearance but told the informant he worried that Glasgow would eventually do so.

 

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

At least 9 Metra police to be freed up to work in the field

(CHICAGO) Metra hopes to free at least nine of its police officers to work in the field and to avoid hundreds of police hours now devoted to petty offenses under two police efficiency measures approved Wednesday, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

The initiatives follow a scathing 2013 audit that blasted the Metra Police Department for excessive overtime and for being more concerned about protecting property than passengers.

Under one measure that would address some of those concerns, 10 Cook County offenses that Metra police often currently charge as misdemeanors instead would result in administrative tickets, with fines as penalties.

That includes crimes as minor as stiffing Metra out of a one-way fare certain low-level cases of vandalism, marijuana possession and trespassing.

Cases that once took 1½ to four hours of police time to charge and book could instead be addressed with tickets, “a process that takes 20 minutes or less,’’ said Metra Police Chief Joseph M. Perez, who was appointed in May 2014 to modernize the department.

Offenders could pay the tickets or appear before a Cook County administrative hearing officer instead of a judge.

Currently, Perez said, Metra police must photograph, fingerprint and process offenders for misdemeanor offenses; go through an additional intake process at Cook County Jail if suspects cannot make bail; and appear in court every time a case is called.

Under the new agreement with Cook County, Metra police would have to appear only if needed at an administrative hearing.

The new effort should spare Metra police up to 540 hours a year in court — including 300 to 400 overtime hours. Metra and Cook County would get a cut of all administrative fines.

Under a second measure, Metra board members agreed Wednesday to pay Cook County at least $847,000 a year to handle 911 calls that now are processed by a 24/7 Metra police dispatch center.

Nine Metra police officers now handle any such calls about incidents on Metra property, costing Metra up to $1.3 million in salaries and benefits a year, Perez said.

After the Cook County Sheriff’s Office takes over that dispatch responsibility, those nine Metra officers can be returned to the field, and in many cases to Metra train cars, as uniformed or undercover officers, Perez said.

“Between the two initiatives,” Perez said, “we have, in effect, a 10 percent increase in police staffing without adding to our personnel costs because officers are not going to court and not doing dispatch center work.’’

Metra’s roughly 100 officers are responsible for protecting 11 rail lines and 241 stations.

Several board members praised the new effort. CEO Don Orseno strongly endorsed them, saying, “These two agreements are strong examples of ways in which local government agencies can work together to find efficiencies and maximize resources.”

— Chicago Sun-Times

Video shows Chicago officer slamming woman who had hands up 

CHICAGO (AP) — Dash-cam video shows a Chicago police officer slamming a robbery suspect to the ground after she got out of a car with her hands up.

The video was released Friday as part of an effort by Chicago’s new police chief to increase transparency and rebuild trust that was hurt by cases of excessive force, particular against African Americans.

Two officers involved in the woman’s 2011 arrest have been stripped of their police powers pending a new review.

Thirty-four-year-old Tiffani Jacobs was driving a getaway car after her boyfriend robbed a McDonald’s at gunpoint. Police say she tried to run down an officer, who then shot her twice. She continued to flee until other officers caught up with her. During the arrest, officers shocked her several times with stun guns.

 

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Chicago Police sued in shooting death of black teen

.By John Dempsey

(CHICAGO) The mother of a 16 year old black teenager shot dead by Chicago Police April 11th, is filing a federal lawsuit against the City of Chicago and two unnamed police officers.

The lawsuit from the mother of 16-year old Pierre Loury also cites findings from Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s task force on police accountability, which found inherent racism in the department, and found that Chicago police have “no regard for the sanctity of life when it comes to people of color.”

​Police First Deputy Superintendent John Escalante has said Loury ran away from a car that officers had pulled over because it matched the description of a vehicle used in an earlier shooting.

​Escalante also said that during the foot chase, Loury turned and aimed at gun at an officer, who then fired the shots that killed him.

An autopsy showed the teen was shot in the chest.   Police called Loury a documented gang member, and said they recovered a semi-automatic weapon at the scene.

Loury had also posted a photo of himself online holding a gun, and wearing a gang tattoo on his neck. ​

The lawsuit filed in Chicago Federal Court also accuses police of conspiring with one another to lie about what happened during the incident.

 

@ 2016 WLS News