Crowd clashes with Chicago cops after police-involved shooting in Englewood
CHICAGO - Chicago police shot a young man in Englewood on Sunday afternoon.
As neighbors began showing up to the scene, the crowd became angry and police say that’s the direct result of some confusion about the suspect’s age. People were hearing he was a child, but police say that’s false information and that the suspect is in his late teens or early 20s.
There were tense moments at the corner of 56th and Aberdeen in the Englewood neighborhood. A dispatcher was heard on radio transmissions saying, “I got a 10-1 (at) 5537 South Aberdeen. Start pushing that crowd back northbound. Push them back. They’re throwing items at the police. 5537 South Aberdeen. 10-1.”
After police shot the young man, an unruly crowd began to hurl things at officers as they held the line to protect the crime scene.
“We do have an officer that was maced by someone in the crowd. We do have an officer that sustained a shoulder injury from the incident with the crowd. One of our vehicles, the windows were shattered by a brick,” said Chicago Police Deputy Chief Delonda Tally.
Tally said the violent outburst from the crowd was a direct response of one agitator – a man who said he witnessed the shooting and claimed police confiscated his phone afterward. He was heard saying, "The officer shot the man again even when he told them I'm down."
The trouble started around 2:30 p.m. Police were called to the block for a man with a gun, spotted him and a foot pursuit began.
"During the foot pursuit, the offender turned and fired shots at the officers. The officers then returned, discharging their weapon," said Deputy Chief Tally.
The suspect was transported to the University of Chicago Hospital and his condition is unknown. Police tweeted a photo of the gun they say they recovered at the scene.
Police made two arrests from the crowd. COPA is conducting the investigation on the shooting. In addition, the three officers who were involved in the shooting were taken to the hospital for observation.