Relatives seek justice after new Chicago police shootings

In a statement on Sunday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel called for a review by the police Crisis Intervention Team and improved guidance for officers handling cases in which mental health is a factor.

The bigger questions surround the day’s first shooting of Quintonio LeGrier, 19, and Bettie Jones, 55, who were both shot and killed after officers responded to a 911 call from LeGrier’s father.

As Chicago grapples with the killings of Quintonio LeGrier and Bettie Jones by Chicago Police, watch for City Hall to revise use of deadly force policies and for Education Secretary Arne Duncan to touch on the shootings when he delivers his farewell address Wednesday at St. Sabina Church. Jones and Quintonio LeGrier, 19, were killed early Saturday by police responding to a domestic disturbance o…

Also, Fraternal Order of Police President Dean Angelo told “The Big John Howell Show” on WLS, that while he has sympathy for Jones and her family, LeGrier is to blame for what happened, saying “You know the actions on behalf of the individual with the baseball bat caused that situation to occur”.

However, attorney Larry Rogers Jr., representing Jones’ family, said at a prayer vigil on Sunday that there may be a video from a house under construction across the street, and that police footage may exist.

The Chicago Police Department later issued a statement saying that officers involved in the incident were being placed on administrative duties for 30 days, while “training and fitness for duty requirements can be conducted”.

There have been weeks of protests over police shootings, including that of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, who was shot 16 times by an officer in October of last year.

The killing and the consequent protests prompted an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, which seeks to find out whether the Chicago Police Department’s practices contribute to civil rights violations, reports The Washington Post.

Many question the shooting of LeGrier, who police say was combative. If they didn’t have one on scene, they should have had one with an officer who was responding as backup. Jones, a neighbor, was “accidentally struck and tragically killed”, police said. The officer is now charged with first-degree murder.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that LeGrier’s father, Antonio, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Chicago on Monday.

“We have not heard him say he would sign a bill for recall” so Emanuel can be voted out of office, Sharpton said.

Latarsha Jones and two of her sisters told NBC News on Monday that the events were “shocking” and “terrifying”.

LeGrier had struggled with mental health issues in recent months, had become agitated and was carrying a metal bat in his father’s upstairs apartment, relatives said. I mean, my son was an honor student. And perhaps most critically: Why did police decide to start shooting?

The city’s Independent Police Review Authority is investigating the double police shooting, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office has said IPRA would share its evidence with the county prosecutor’s office.

“The male caller said someone is threatening his life”.

It’s clear that at least one police officer opened fire early Saturday at a two-story home on Chicago’s West Side. He believes the officer “messed up” and shot recklessly.

The statement said the police review authority has been tasked with finding deficiencies in the police department’s current training program and come up with a plan to change them.

CORLEY: And, you know, she said that the Chicago police had just failed her and that they had failed the community by taking lives instead of protecting them.