Chicago police officers shoot and wound 14-year-old boy after chase

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/21/chicago-police-officers-shoot-boy-chase

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Chicago police officers shot and wounded a 14-year-old boy on Thursday night after police say he ignored commands to stop running and drop his weapon.

Local news reports identified the boy as Deguan Curry, although police have yet to release the teenager’s identity. He was in stable condition at Chicago’s Comer Children’s Hospital early Friday morning after being shot in both legs, the Chicago Tribune reported.

“This is like a really, really bad dream,” Curry’s mother, Ikyshia Webber, told the paper.

Officers responded to a report of shots fired in the 8900 block of South Escanaba Avenue on Thursday, looking for suspects on bicycles, according to a Chicago police statement released on Friday. Police spotted Curry and another person riding bicycles and stopped to talk with them. Officers reportedly noticed a “bulge” protruding from Curry’s pocket.

When officers exited their car, Curry fled on foot and the officers gave chase, police said, and noticed that Curry was carrying a weapon as he ran. Local media reported that Curry was carrying a gun, but the statement released by police does not specify what weapon he was carrying and the police did not respond to a request for clarification.

The officers shot the boy in both legs after repeated commands for Curry to stop and drop his weapon were ignored, according to the police statement. Curry was struck three times, the Chicago Tribune later reported.

Police declined to release additional details about the exchange leading up to the shooting, but said a weapon was found at the scene of the incident.

Webber told the Chicago Tribune that she had never seen her son with a gun before.

“I’ve never had a problem with Deguan up until this point other than him being a typical boy,” she said.

All shootings involving Chicago police are reviewed by the city’s Independent Police Review Authority, which has assumed the investigation into Curry’s shooting. A spokesman for the organization said shooting investigations can take up to one year to complete. The IPRA has investigated nearly 400 police shootings since 2007 and found just one to be unjustified. The city recently fired an investigator after he ruled several police shootings unjustified and refused to reverse his decision, local media reported.

Chicago police killed 70 people between 2010 and 2014, more than any other major city, according to a recent analysis from the Chicago-based Better Government Association. When adjusted for population, the BGA’s analysis showed that Chicago ranks fourth for fatal shootings by major police departments in that time period.

Chicago police have killed three people so far in 2015, according to the Guardian’s ongoing investigation The Counted.