CHICAGO — Grieving relatives and friends of two people shot and killed by Chicago police said Sunday that the city’s law enforcement officers had failed its residents.
Quintonio LeGrier, 19, was killed early Saturday by police responding to a domestic disturbance, along with downstairs neighbor Bettie Jones, 55, police said.
Jones was hit accidentally by the gunfire, police said. Both victims were black.
Jacqueline Walker, a friend of Jones, asked why police “shoot first and ask questions later.” Police should use stun guns or other nonlethal methods instead, Walker said at a news conference outside the West Side residence where the victims lived.
Officers who responded to a 911 call “were confronted by a combative subject resulting in the discharging of the officer’s weapon,” the Chicago Police Department said in a statement Saturday.
The shootings came amid scrutiny after a series of deaths of African-Americans at the hands of officers gave rise to the Black Lives Matter movement.
The Chicago Police Department also is under a federal civil rights investigation that will look into patterns of racial disparity in the use of force and how the department disciplines officers and handles misconduct accusations.
Police did not disclose the race of the officer, saying only that those involved will be placed on administrative duties for 30 days while “training and fitness for duty requirements can be conducted.” It isn’t clear how many officers responded, how many used their firearms and how many times both LeGrier and Jones were struck.
Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the officers’ role in the shootings is being investigated by the city’s Independent Police Review Authority, the main police oversight agency. He also said police can’t comment.
