Chicago cop who shot fleeing 13-year-old carjacking suspect is relieved of police powers, officials say
The Chicago police officer who fired a service weapon and wounded a 13-year-old boy who was on the run Wednesday night has been relieved of police powers, officials said Friday, as activists gathered later that day outside police headquarters to protest the West Side shooting.
“He’s still an active member of the Chicago Police Department,” said Don Terry, a police spokesman. “He’s not going to be patrolling the streets and he won’t be able to arrest people.”
The action, effective Friday, means the officer will still be getting a paycheck but will be moved to “desk duty,” Terry said.
On Friday evening, approximately 20 people congregated outside police headquarters with picket signs to protest the shooting.
“What we’re ultimately talking about here is accountability,” said Tanner with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, who declined to give his last name to a reporter.
Authorities said the 13-year-old was involved with a carjacking and that he was shot and seriously wounded as he ran from police officers in the 800 block of North Cicero Avenue in the South Austin neighborhood.
After he fled on foot, the boy “turned toward officers” and was shot once, Chicago police Superintendent David Brown said during a brief evening news conference at police headquarters Thursday.
Officers were trying “to stop a stolen vehicle wanted in connection with a vehicular hijacking” from Oak Park when it happened about 10:15 p.m., according to a statement from Chicago police.
The boy was unarmed, authorities said, as no gun was recovered.
Brown did not say whether the boy did or did not have a gun when he was wounded in the lot of a nearby gas station.
“No shots were fired at officers,” Brown said. He declined to say how many times police fired.
When asked why this had happened, Terry said he didn’t want to go beyond what the Police Department’s statement said.
“The officer involved in the shooting Wednesday night in the Austin neighborhood has been relieved of police powers, effective today, while the Civilian Office of Police Accountability is conducting this investigation,” according to the statement.
At the protest Friday, Candice Choo-Kang said the shooting was reminiscent of past lethal shootings by police, including those of 13-year-old Adam Toledo and 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez in 2021.
“Earlier today, David Brown tweeted, ‘The Chicago Police Department refuses to let senseless acts of violence become commonplace,’” said Choo-Kang, with Justice for Anthony Alvarez. “So why do they allow killer cops to parade around our streets? And a 13-year-old was shot in the back on Wednesday. Alvarez was shot in the back while running away. Toledo was shot with his hands raised in the air. Are those not acts of senseless violence?”
