Crime & Safety
Grandmother 'Tragically Killed' in Accidental Police Shooting: Chicago PD
Police also shot and killed a young man, reportedly mentally anguished, who was threatening his dad with a baseball bat early Saturday.
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Saturday morning began with a 911 call for a domestic disturbance involving a “combative subject.” The day would end with the deaths of a 19-year-old emotionally overwrought man and a 55-year-old grandmother — and the Chicago Police Department admitting to a tragic accident.
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A police officer shot and killed Quintonio LeGrier, an engineering student at Northern Illinois University who was suffering from mental illness. LeGrier was threatening his father with a metal bat when police were called. When officers arrived at the West Side address, a woman opened the door. Bettie Jones, a mother of five and grandmother who lived in the downstairs flat, was shot three times, once in the neck.
Her 19-year-old daughter Latisha was asleep in the apartment when she heard the gunshots. She ran to the hallway to find her mother bleeding on the floor.
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“She wasn’t saying anything,” Latisha Jones told reporters. “I had to keep checking for a pulse.”
Jones and LeGrier are the first people fatally shot by Chicago Police since the U.S. Justice Department Civil Rights Division began an investigation of the force earlier this month. The families want answers.
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A police source told the Chicago Tribune investigators are asking whether the officers on scene knew they were dealing with a person suffering emotional-health problems. The source also said investigators are looking into whether any officer had a Taser. Only about 10 percent of Chicago police officers are equipped with Tasers.
The officers were called to the disturbance in the 4700 block of West Erie St. at 4:25 a.m. Saturday, police said.
Late Saturday, police issued a statement acknowledging Jones was shot accidentally.
“The 55-year-old female victim was accidentally struck and tragically killed. The department extends its deepest condolences to the victim’s family and friends.”
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The officer who fired the fatal shots has been placed on desk duty for 30 days, according to the police department. This a newly instituted policy involving all police-related shootings, put in place by interim Police Superintendent John Escalante.
A prayer vigil took place Sunday afternoon outside the homes where the shooting took place.
Bettie Jones and Quintonio LeGrier
The grief-stricken families are angry about how police approached this situation.
ABC Chicago reports that LeGrier, a promising college student, was struggling with emotional problems in recent months. His father, Antonio LeGrier, is the landlord of the building. He told the Chicago Tribune he believes the officer “messed up” when he opened fire on the house. LeGrier was shot as he came out of the front door.
“I don’t feel that (my son’s) life was worth losing because he got upset,” the father said.
LeGrier’s mother, Janet Cooksey, told the Tribune police were called because the father was afraid. His son was banging on his bedroom door with the metal bat. She said she was told her son was shot seven times.
Jones, who lived in the downstairs apartment, opened the front door for the officers and was shot in the neck, neighbors said. Her relatives said they believe she was standing behind LeGrier as the young man went out the front door.
“I want this investigation to be thorough. I want answers,” Bettie Jones’ cousin Evelyn Glover Jennings told the Chicago Tribune. “Her blood is crying out from the grave saying, ‘Evelyn, avenge me.’”
When the police arrived, family members said, the landlord called down to Jones, his downstairs tenant, to answer the door. Having just been asleep, Jones answered the door in her nightgown.
Though no one witnessed the shooting, multiple family members said they think police shot through the door, striking Bettie Jones three times. As evidence, family members pointed to a bullet hole in the door. There were other bullet holes in the home, including one in the daughter’s bedroom, behind the front door.
Jones was spending time at home recovering from ovarian cancer. She worked full-time at the Alpha Baking bread factory, her brother Robin Andrews told DNAinfo Chicago. The family celebrated Christmas with her on Friday.
Naportia Jones, 34, remembered her aunt as an inspiration, a confidant and the glue that held her large extended family together.
“She was like my second mom,” Naportia Jones said, as she recalled growing up with her aunts, uncles and cousins down the street and around the block from the West Erie Street apartment where Bettie Jones was killed.
Jones described her aunt as “a lively spirit” who loved Smokey Robinson and stepping, a type of couples dancing that resembles line dancing and typically is performed to older R&B music.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help pay for funeral expenses.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel issued a statement Saturday.
“Anytime an officer uses force the public deserves answers, and regardless of the circumstances we all grieve anytime there is a loss of life in our city,” reads Emanuel’s statement. “With that in mind, I have been informed that the Independent Police Review Authority has opened investigations into each shooting, and that all evidence will be shared with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office for additional review in the days ahead.”
LeGrier’s mom wants more from the mayor.
“You call the police, you try to get help and you lose a loved one. What are they trained for? Just to kill? I thought that we were supposed to get service and protection. I mean, my son was an honor student. He’s here for Christmas break, and now I’ve lost him,” she said. “Emanuel, I want a personal apology for my son’s life.
“I don’t want you to get on the news and say you’re so … I want a personal apology.”
The Independent Police Review Authority is investigating.
“At this time, our focus is on collecting the evidence and identifying and interviewing all witnesses,” director Sharon Fairley said at a Saturday evening press conference. “At this time, it would be inappropriate for me to answer any further questions or provide any further comment on the details of what happened.”
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