Murder suspect's brother fatally shot after pulling gun on cops in South Chicago, police say

CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) - Chicago police fatally shot an armed man Tuesday while mistakenly executing an arrest warrant on the wrong person in South Chicago.

Curtis Stagger, a brother of a man wanted in a May 14 murder in Roseland, allegedly pulled out a gun during the arrest, police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

Officers with the department’s fugitive apprehension unit attempted to arrest the 21-year-old about 1:45 p.m. in a driveway in the 8100 block of South Chappel Avenue, Sgt. Rocco Alioto said during a news conference Tuesday.

Stagger pulled out a handgun while officers went to take him into custody while he sat in a vehicle, Alioto said. An officer then shot him.

Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said Stagger was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in “very critical” condition with gunshot wounds.

Alioto said he has since been pronounced dead. An autopsy released Wednesday found Stagger died of multiple gunshot wounds, the medical examiner’s office said.

Two officers were also taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn for observation, Langford said.

Alioto said investigators are trying to determine whether Stagger fired shots at police. CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi initially said officers had returned fire after a suspect shot at them.

A weapon was recovered, Guglielmi said.

Police initially believed Stagger was wanted in connection with the shooting death of 15-year-old Jaylin Ellzey in the 200 block of West 113th Street, but learned later that he was a brother of the suspect, Guglielmi said.

A neighbor said the shooting happened in the driveway of the Stagger’s uncle’s house. He said the uncle works at a police station, and had multiple nephews. The medical examiner’s report showed that Stagger lived a block away.

“This happens. It’s just not supposed to happen on this block,” the neighbor said. “This is the quiet block, the suburb block.”

Horace Mann elementary school, which sits at the end of the block, was briefly placed on lockdown after the shooting, a spokesperson for Chicago Public Schools said.

The officer involved in the shooting will be placed on desk duty while the Civilian Office of Police Accountability investigates, Alioto said.