CPD officer charged in off-duty Albany Park shooting
CHICAGO - A Chicago police officer faces felony charges in an off-duty shooting that wounded a man in Albany Park, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.
Police Officer Kevin Bunge feared he was about to be the victim of a carjacking when he fired several rounds at a parked vehicle on Dec. 11 in the 3300 block of West Irving Park Road, his defense attorney Tim Grace said.
Bunge told investigators and Cook County prosecutors that he heard several gunshots before approaching the two men inside the parked vehicle. He claimed that one of the men pointed a gun at him.
But surveillance video from a nearby business contradicted at least some of Bunge’s claims, according to prosecutors.
Chicago Police Officer Kevin Bunge | Cook County sheriff’s office
Bungee, 39, was sitting in his Jeep when he noticed the two men pull up behind him in a red car, prosecutors said. After he said he heard gunshots, he got out of his Jeep with his personal weapon drawn and approached the red car, the Sun-Times reported.
Bunge fired a shot through the driver’s side window, which struck the driver in the right hand, prosecutors said. The driver sped backwards when Bunge allegedly fired a second shot that struck the car’s fender.
The targets of the shooting filed a civil rights lawsuit against Bunge, claiming excessive force, the Sun-Times previously reported.
Judge John F. Lyke Jr. called the case "a head scratcher."
"In this defendant’s mind, he heard a gunshot. The state is telling [us] that the video of it does not bear that out and that these two gentlemen were just parked behind him," he said.
Lyke Jr. ordered Bungee’s bail set at $10,000 bail, the Sun-Times reported.
Chicago police, in a statement, said Bunge was relieved of his police powers shortly after the shooting.