For the second time in less than two weeks, Chicago officers shot someone who aimed a gun at them inside a police facility, police said.
The shooting occurred around 12:52 p.m. on Oct. 5, inside the Ogden (10th) Police District station, 3315 W. Ogden Ave., Police Supt. David Brown said at a press conference, citing preliminary information.
A man walked into the station’s lobby, “mumbling and ranting,” Brown said. The man was holding a plastic bag wrapped in his hand and an officer spotted something that appeared to be the barrel of a gun protruding from the bag, Brown said.
The man “shouts and rants anti-police sentiment” then pointed the gun at the officers at the front desk, Brown said.
At that point, officers drew their weapons and shot at the man, wounding him at least once in his shoulder, Brown said. The man was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital with non-life-threatening wounds, Brown said. No officers were hurt.
Three officers shot at the man, according to preliminary information, but investigators need to confirm that by examining their guns, Brown said.
The man has not been identified yet, Brown said. He was not cooperating with police to provide information on who he is, so investigators are working to identify him through fingerprints and any criminal records, Brown said.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability is investigating, as is standard in police shootings. The officers involved will be put on administrative duties for 30 days.
Asked if the man may have been attempting to turn the gun in to police, Brown said his behavior did not suggest that. Officers ordered the man repeatedly to drop the gun, Brown said. Instead, he raised the gun and pointed it back and forth at the officers “as if you had a gun,” Brown said.
Civilian employees also were at the front desk when the shooting occurred, Brown said.
“Officers … this is the job they face, they’re always worried about their lives being at risk protecting the people of Chicago, but civilians don’t necessarily sign up for this,” Brown said. “They’re really shook up from this.”
Officers also shot someone inside a different West Side police station late last month.
In that case, prosecutors said Donald Patrick of suburban Waukegan broke into the Homan Square police facility, 1101 S. Homan Ave., by climbing up a rear fire escape and entering the building through a propped-open door on the fifth floor.
Once there, he grabbed three, automatic pistols officers had left on a desk while conducting a SWAT training exercise, prosecutors said. The guns were not loaded and the ammunition had been put in storage, prosecutors said.
Patrick then walked toward the training area and aimed the weapons at four officers on the catwalk, prosecutors said. One officer eventually confronted Patrick in a stairwell and shot him, prosecutors said.
Patrick was charged with three counts of burglary and five counts of aggravated assault on a police officer.
In the wake of the two incidents and the “anti-police sentiment expressed by this particular offender,” Brown said police leadership are in talks about how to better secure police stations.
“We did discuss that after the Homan Square incident but we’re also obviously taking a look at all our police facilities,” Brown said. Police leaders are concerned about “access to our police facilities where officers are, but again we have to balance that with being open to the community to make report and engage with our officers.”
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