Not One, But Two Police Shootings

The weather certainly hasn't stopped people from shooting at each other, what with one dead and thirteen wounded over the weekend. It hasn't stopped assholes from pointing guns at police either:

• Police shot an armed man who allegedly pointed a gun at them early Wednesday, shortly after the man also pulled a gun on his stepfather at an Englewood home, according to a police union official.
  
  It was the second police involved shooting in a 24-hour period.
  
  
• The other police involved shooting occurred several hours earlier when police fired shots at a car after a motorist tried to run over at least one officer during a traffic stop.
  
  No one was injured in that shooting, police said.

In the first shooting, the offender is in critical condition. No hits in the second shooting. Guns recovered at both scenes. Well done Officers.

And Another Shooting

We've been damn lucky this year, and the luck continues:

• A man was shot and wounded by police after he led officers on a chase through yards and alleys of the Grand Crossing neighborhood on the South Side, then crouched and pointed a gun, officials said.
  
  The person was taken in serious-to-critical condition to Stroger Hospital, according to Fire Department spokesman Will Knight. No officers were injured when the man, believed to be 21, was shot, a police union spokesman said.

Gun recovered, bad guy in intensive care, cops go home - that's a good day. Best wishes to the involved officers.

Off Duty Shooting

The cops is OK, his girlfriend is shook up, the offender will live:

• A 20-year-old parolee accused of trying to hit an off-duty Chicago police officer with a stolen SUV was ordered held today in lieu of a $500,000 bond.
  
  [...] Coleman was driving a stolen Honda CRV north on South Prairie Avenue about 10 p.m. Thursday when he passed a squad car heading the opposite direction that was outfitted with a license plate reader, according to court documents.
  
  The device notified the officers that the CRV was stolen, so the officers made a U-turn and pulled Coleman over, the court documents say.
  
  The officers got out of their car and ordered Coleman to turn off the CRV, but he sped away, driving north on Martin Luther King Drive, according to court documents. He turned left onto 37th Street but lost control, striking a pole and a woman before hitting a wall.
  
  A Chicago police officer who had just finished his shift was in his car with his girlfriend at the intersection when they saw the chase unfolding just before Coleman crashed, according to court documents and a police union spokesman.
  
  The off-duty officer, who was wearing his uniform, got out of his car to help the woman who had been struck, but Coleman put the CRV into reverse and hit the officer’s car, where his girlfriend was seated, according to court documents.

Best wishes to the injured and good job to the Officer.

Thanksgiving Shooting

Shot twice.  And Tasered twice afterwards:

• A man who was attacking passengers and the driver of a CTA bus in the Marquette Park neighborhood was shot and Tasered by police after he tried to attack officers this afternoon, officials said.
  
  The incident happened at about 4 p.m. as a California Avenue CTA bus was northbound near 63rd Street, said Patrick Camden, a spokesman for the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7.
  
  The man, in his late 20s and who appeared to be impaired, began attacking several passengers on the bus, Camden said.

And exactly what is the purpose of throwing in the "appeared to be impaired" comment? Either he was or he wasn't and neither state precludes him from getting shot and Tasered by responding officers if they felt their life was in danger.

In any event, the Officer involved went home safe. That is what matters.

UPDATE: We heard the Camden clip and from what we remember, Camden didn't say anything except "the man began attacking several passengers."  The "appeared to be impaired" part was added by the media after talking to witnesses.  So all you Camden defenders, lighten up.  We have teased the Orange One on occasion but he's doing good work for the FOP, and we've said so numerous times.  We don't want Pat's job, so there's nothing for us to be jealous of.  And we're already taller than him.

Officer Wounded; Assailant Killed

Late last night:

• A Chicago Police officer suffered a graze wound to her leg and a stabbing suspect wielding a hammer was fatally shot late Wednesday in the South Chicago neighborhood, police said.
  
  The female officer and man were shot near the intersection of East 79th Street and South Shore Drive, police said.
  
  The officer’s partner shot the man, said Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Pat Camden. It was unclear whether the officer accidently shot herself or was wounded by her partner.
  
  At 11:45 p.m, two officers responded to a disturbance at the intersection and saw a man with a knife stabbing another man, police said.
  
  When officers ordered the attacker to drop the weapon but he refused and an officer fired a Tazer, police said.
  
  But the suspect produced a hammer and aggressively charged toward the officers, officials said. Both officers discharged their weapons, police said.

Get well soon Officer.  And well done in eliminating yet another threat to the lives of officers and citizens alike.

Officer Kills Assailant

Once again, police confronted by a man with a gun:

• A man who allegedly pointed a gun at Chicago police was fatally shot this afternoon in the Park Manor neighborhood, officials said.
  
  The shooting happened at about 3:45 p.m. near the 6700 block of South Indiana Avenue, according to Patrick Camden, a spokesman for the Chicago police union.
  
  Police officers were driving south on Indiana near an alley when they spotted a man coming out of the alley with a gun in his hand, said Camden.
  
  After police pulled over they ordered the man to drop the gun but the man began running down the alley and about midway the man turned and pointed the weapon at the police, Camden said.
  
  The officers fired at the man, fatally striking him, Camden said.

Well done Officers.

Officer Injured, Offender Shot

Broken leg for the officer, assailant hanging on at the moment:

• Police in the Lawndale neighborhood shot and critically wounded a man suspected of abducting his 2-year-old child from a suburb and then running down a police officer who approached him this evening, authorities said.
  
  An officer shot the suspect at a Church's Fried Chicken restaurant parking lot, 1151 S. Independence Blvd., about 7 p.m. after the suspect ran down an officer with his car, authorities said.
  
  Fire Department ambulances were dispatched at 7:03 p.m., and took the person who had been shot to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital in critical condition, said Meg Ahlheim, a spokeswoman for the Fire Department. A police officer was taken to Northwestern Memorial in fair-to-serious condition, and a third person was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition, Ahlheim said.

Preliminary reports are that the officer was working Special/Violence Reduction Initiative. Well done by all responding units which included State and Bridgeview.  A speedy recovery is wished to the injured P.O.

Delayed Penalty

Sorry about the hockey reference - the lockout is getting to us:

• A 16-year-old shot by a police officer during a foot chase on the South Side Sunday night has died, authorities said.
  
  Ricky Childs, of the 7900 block of South Ingleside Avenue, was pronounced dead at 9:51 p.m. Monday at the John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
  
  [...] During the pursuit, Childs fired a gun at an officer pursuing him on foot, police said.
  
  After missing, Childs pointed the gun again in the officer's direction, and the officer fired his weapon, striking Childs in the head, police said.
  
  Authorities said police recovered a gun at the scene.
  

Nice shot.

By the way, he was just about to turn his life around.

Two More Police Shootings

And yes, one is in Englewood:

• Chicago police shot a man in the Englewood neighborhood Sunday at about 10 p.m., authorities said.
  
  The man was taken from the 5700 block of South Wolcott Avenue to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County with at least one gunshot wound, according to reports.
  
  Englewood District officers were on patrol near 57th Street and Wolcott Avenue following reports of gunfire in that area over the last few days, authorities said.
  
  On Sunday night, they were in that area when they heard gunshots and saw at least one person among a group of four or five shooting at a house, authorities said, citing preliminary information. The officers approached the group and announced their office, authorities said. That's when more gunfire erupted, reportedly in the cops' direction.
  
  This prompted at least one of the officers to return fire, striking one of the suspects from the group in the leg, authorities said. The wounded suspect, a 27-year-old man, then tried to elude the police on foot, but was apprehended a short time later near 58th Street and Winchester Avenue, authorities said.
  
  He was taken to Stroger Hospital and a gun was recovered, authorities said. The rest of the group was still at large early Monday morning.
  
  Meanwhile, Chicago police Sunday night shot another person who pointed a gun at them near 82nd Street and Drexel Avenue, authorities said. A gun was also recovered in that shooting, but further details about it weren't immediately available.

Nice jobs all around.

Englewood Police Shooting

Another one:

• Police shot one man in the chest and took two others into custody after responding to a report of shots fired in the Englewood neighborhood early Thursday, authorities said
  
  Officers with the Englewood District’s incident team arrived at the 6700 block of South Morgan Street about 2:15 a.m. and saw a vehicle speed off into an alley, according to a statement from police News Affairs.
  

What's 007 up to this year? About a dozen police involved shootings? More? Watch yourselves.

Police Shooting

Once again, quick response, shooter still in the area, and...:

• A gunman who allegedly shot two people, was wounded by police this afternoon after he tried to fire at them on the city's South Side.
  
  Officers from the South Chicago police district responded about 1:45 p.m. to the shooting at 98th Street and Merrill Avenue, where a gunman shot two people, one of whom was fatally wounded, according to Pat Camden, a spokesman for the police union, citing preliminary information.
  
  [...] Members of the Gang Enforcement Unit had received a description of the shooter and discovered him near the scene where the shooter shot at police, Camden said.
  
  Police responded by striking the man, wounding him, he said. The gunman was shot multiple times and fled the scene and police found him on the 9600 block of Chappel Avenue. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, police said.

Well done Officers.

Shooter Charged

Uptown Update has a post up about the juvenile piece of crap charged with shooting up an unmarked car and attempting the murder the cops within:

• Unreal. Not old enough to vote, or buy cigarettes or booze, and just barely old enough to drive. In fact, he was breaking curfew.
  
  And now he's facing two counts of the attempted murder by shooting up a police car Friday night. Well, he achieved legal maturity in at least one way: he's been charged as an adult.

They also have links up to jagoff's Facebook page - pictures that make it hard for the apologists to make an argument he was just about to turn his life around.

More Shots Fired at Police

After wounding a few people:

• Authorities charged the South Side man they said wounded a young girl and woman over the weekend during a shooting that was witnessed by a Chicago police officer who had just ended his shift.
  
  The officer, still in uniform, pursued the vehicle from the 9900 block of South Vincennes Avenue to the 9800 block of South Throop Street just before 3:30 p.m. Sunday where one of two men fired on him, police said.
  The unidentified officer returned fire, but no one was wounded in the exchange.  

And guess what else?

• In January, [this asshole] pleaded guilty to resisting a police officer and was sentenced to probation and time served as two aggravated battery to a police officer charges were dropped, according to court records.

Imagine that - in Cook County no less.  Anita's people take the bullshit misdemeanor conviction and void out the felonies that would have put this mutt into prison for a few years.  And then he manages to try to take the life of a Chicago Police Officer and two other citizens.

Anyone writing these things down to use against Anita in a few years?

...and Another Shooting

Great Pat Camdem quote here:

• Chicago police shot and wounded a man who, according to a police union official, advanced an officer while wielding a tire iron late Sunday night in the South Austin neighborhood on the city's West Side.
  
  
  No officers were injured in the shooting that occurred just before 11:30 p.m. in am alley in the 200 block of North Lockwood Avenue, according to Chicago police and the Independent Police Review Authority.
  
  
  Officers assigned to violence reduction in the area stopped to question four men in an alley near Fulton Street and Lockwood Avenue when two of the men ran away, said Pat Camden, a spokesman for the Fraternal Order of Police, which represents the department's rank-and-file officers.
  
  
  As the officers chased after the fleeing men, one of the cops hopped a fence to search a nearby alley when he was accosted, according to Camden.
  
  
  "All of a sudden the bad guy jumps out of the bushes with a tire iron in his hand," Camden said.
  
  
  "Needless to say, he got shot," Camden said.

All officers are OK.

And ANOTHER Police Shooting?

The increase of the increase (or something) continues:

• Fraternal Order of Police Spokesman Pat Camden said an Area South Gang Team responded to a 911 call that gave a "detailed description" of someone standing on the corner of 77th Street and Wolcott Avenue holding a gun.

  A police department source said the teen was among a group of people standing near the corner of 77th Street and Wolcott Avenue when officers approached and the teen took off running.

  “Gangs South responded and there’s about 10 people on the corner, there’s a makeshift memorial there for someone who got shot god knows when, and they see a guy matching the description perfectly of the 911 call," Camden said.

That Camdem is worth his weight in oranges. Easily the best money FOP has spent in years.

Good job by the officers, too.

Assailant Killed in 005

All police are OK:

• Chicago Police killed a man in his 20s and shot at another after the men allegedly pointed handguns at officers responding to a Roseland neighborhood block party Friday night.

  The shootings took place in the 200 block of West 110th Street, police spokeswoman Amina Greer said.

  Greer said no officers appeared to have been injured, but Independent Police Review Authority spokesman Larry Merritt said the man was fatally shot by police.

  The incident happened after 9:30 p.m., when the two armed men showed up uninvited to a large block party, Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Pat Camden said.

  Both men allegedly took off running after party-goers called 911 and pointed the men out to responding officers, Camden said.

  An officer chasing one of the suspects on foot fired but missed after the man turned and pointed a handgun at him, Camden said. That suspect was taken into custody uninjured.

  Another officer in a police vehicle drove after the second suspect, then continued chasing him on foot. That suspect, a man in his 20s, also allegedly pointed a handgun at the officer, who then fatally shot him, officials said.

  “It’s a pretty simple equation. You point a gun at an officer, he’s gonna defend himself,” Camden said. He said both officers announced themselves as police before the suspects pointed guns at them.

Now before grandmama and the three or four mothers of the dead thug's unborn children start squawking about how the police gunned down the former altar boy who was just about to turn his life around by filling the Lil Jojo vacancy, notice how the article states "police were responding to" a call from party-goers AND the suspects were pointed out by the same party-goers." The police had little if any reason to be there until called, so once the wailing starts up, remember how the police ended up there.

Gee, A Repeat Offender

Imagine that:

• A man once convicted of threatening a police officer was charged Wednesday with firing a shot at a police car attempting to make a traffic stop, prompting an exchange of gunfire early Tuesday in the North Center neighborhood.

  Luis Zapata, 21, of the 2900 block of North Seeley Avenue, was charged with two counts of aggravated assault of a police officer, two counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm, one count of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a street gang member, police said. He has been arrested numerous times, most recently in February for aggravated assault of a police officer, according to police.

  Zapata had previously been arrested for aggravated assault of a police officer, police said.

Quarter million dollars bail for a repeat offender who likes to threaten and evidently, shoot at the police. Not nearly enough.

Why So Many Shootings?

Once again, people ask the obvious question. Then don't go anywhere near the obvious answer:

• An early Tuesday gun battle on the North Side is part of a sudden, unexplained rise in police-involved shootings in recent weeks, authorities said.

  Tom Byrne, the Chicago Police Department’s chief of detectives, said he can’t explain the spike — which is happening in a year in which police-involved shootings have been trending downward.

  But he said the shootings are a demonstration of aggressive policing.

Really? Aggressive policing? Waitress? Whatever the Chief is having, we'll take a double.

Surprisingly, someone else touches on what we believe to be part of the reason:

• [some guy], president of the Fraternal Order of Police, said he thinks criminals have become bolder because of a continuing police manpower shortage.

  “They have no respect for authority and will pull a gun out to keep themselves out of prison,” [some guy] said.

  Since the end of August, officers have shot six people in Chicago, police said.

There are a combination of factors contributing directly to an increase in flying lead, manpower being but the most obvious of them. The recent tendencies to toss any-and-every cop under the bus for the sake of political expediency, the overly political prosecution of cases long since closed and/or forgotten, and the resultant increase of weapon movement due to the listed factors (i.e. police are actually less aggressive) means more guns on the street, more shots fired at opponents, more police literally stumbling into gun fights that normally wouldn't be occurring.

Byrne's supposition is ludicrous. The second theory has been espoused here for a couple of years now, far before of the tenure of the current occupant of the FOP office.

UPDATE: Once again, one month doesn't make a trend. McCompStat bragged about numbers trending down in July, then got buried in August, making July the aberration, not the trend.

Shootings involving police up over two weeks doesn't mean anything either.

And Yet Another Shooting

No one hit on either side though:

• Three people were taken into custody this morning after Chicago police exchanged gunfire with someone in the Lakeview neighborhood on the North Side, police said.

  No one was injured in the shooting around 1:15 a.m. in the 2200 block of West Barry Avenue, police said, citing early reports.

  A police spokesman had no details on the shooting, but said three people were taken into custody.

  Since late August, the union representing Chicago's rank-and-file officers has reported about a dozen instances where shots were fired either at or by police officers.

This is getting stupid.

And Another Police Shooting (And Another!)

Crime is down? Bullshit:

• Chicago police wounded a robbery suspect Sunday night in the North Austin neighborhood on the city's West Side, authorities said.

  No officers were reported injured in the shooting that occurred just before 9:30 p.m. near the intersection of Lotus and Bloomingdale avenues, according to both Chicago police and the Independent Police Review Authority.

  The wounded person's condition wasn't known.

Two words - who cares? Anything above "still breathing" then he should thank his lucky stars.

In any event, no police were hurt, which is good. So we're up to four police involved shootings in under 2 weeks? Or is it five?

Well done to the involved Officers.

UPDATE: A second one in less than three hours:

• Just after midnight, officers from the Area South Gun Team spotted two men walking in the 7900 block of South Shore Drive, one appearing to have a handgun protruding from his waistband, Chicago police said in a formal statement.
  
  The officers with the "gun team," which focuses primarily on taking illegal guns off the streets, were in the area because of a previous shots fired call, police said.
  
  As the men approached, one of the officers announced his office, prompting one of the men to pull out his handgun and point it at the officers, police said. One of the cops opened fire, striking the gun-wielding suspect, police said.

Auntie says police just opened fire without announcing their office and her nephew was as pure as the driven snow - this despite two previous weapons convictions. Auntie insists he was innocent this time. Anyone want to bet his juvenile record shows a few more?

Again, well done Officers.