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If there hadn’t been an MJ, there wouldn’t have been a Kobe as we knew him.

Lots of people could do a lovely job of presenting the late Kobe Bryant at his enshrinement ceremony for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. If you played in the NBA as long as Bryant did (20 seasons), won as many NBA titles (five) and played in as many All-Star games (18), you’d have countless admirers with countless good thoughts. Teammates. Coaches. Competitors.

If a different route was favored, his wife could speak eloquently about him.

But it will be Michael Jordan doing the talking on May 15, because it has to be. Because it’s perfect.

If there hadn’t been an MJ, there wouldn’t have been a Kobe Bryant as we knew him. There wouldn’t have been Kobe’s fadeaway jumpers or hang-time dunks. There wouldn’t have been Kobe’s hands bunching up the hem of his shorts while he leaned on his knees to catch a breath. There wouldn’t have been Kobe’s icy glare or his Jordan-like speech pattern and talking points, right down to acknowledgments of “my supporting cast.’’ All of it borrowed/stolen from Michael.

There would have been a great Bryant without Jordan, a Hall of Fame Bryant, but probably not one who reached the level he eventually reached. There wouldn’t have been a Jordan 2. So if Kobe long ago picked Michael as the player he wanted to be, Michael should be the one to talk about the player Kobe became.

Jordan it will be then, front and center, when Bryant gets enshrined posthumously next month into the Hall. Bryant, along with his 13-year-old daughter and seven others, died in a helicopter crash 15 months ago in Calabasas, Calif. He was 41. It was as shocking a development as the sports world has seen, with a legendary player being yanked from this life out of thin air. The photos and video of a sobbing Jordan speaking at Bryant’s memorial won’t be forgotten for a long time.

If you were looking for the perfect basketball player when Kobe was growing up, it was Jordan you found. Years later, if you were looking for someone who patterned his career almost perfectly after Jordan’s, someone who created a wax museum lookalike, you ran smack into Bryant. For some Bulls fans, the very idea of it was obnoxious. Hey, buddy, develop your own game. But as time went on and Kobe’s abilities simply couldn’t be denied, what could you do? Everything in sports is derivative. Bryant had simply torn off a piece of tracing paper, put it over Jordan and taken his own game to another level. Simple? You try it and see how close you get. Bryant was phenomenal, and so what if it looked familiar? If fans couldn’t have Jordan anymore, why not feast eyes on his dunk-elganger?

Jordan, too, was annoyed by Bryant’s copycat ways, by the phone calls, by his constant questions about what it takes to be great. But he eventually caved in, impressed by Bryant’s drive and doggedness. He started thinking of him as his “little brother.’’ They were more like twin brothers born 15 years apart. Same height, 6-foot-6, with Bryant maybe 15 pounds heavier.

So who better to capture Kobe in a Hall of Fame induction speech than Michael? No one.

I hope Jordan finds time to mention the trouble Bryant got into as a player, because that’s a part of the former Laker great, too. In 2003, he was accused of sexually assaulting a hotel worker, but when the alleged victim refused to testify in court, charges were dropped. Bryant apologized publicly but wouldn’t admit guilt, though he did settle out of court after the woman filed a civil suit. If we’re trying to paint a full picture of the man, all of that matters, just as Jordan surely will decide that mentioning the good work Bryant did off the court matters, too. To not mention his past troubles at this point in history, in an era when women’s rights are front and center, would be insensitive.

I haven’t looked at social media, but I’m guessing there are jokes that Jordan will look for a way to rip the late Jerry Krause during his Bryant speech, the way he ripped the former Bulls general manager during his own Hall speech in 2009. That would be taking the Michael-Kobe symmetry a bit too far, but with MJ, never say never.

I envision a gracious speech. I envision a speech in which, at one point, we forget who’s talking, Jordan or Bryant. That would be the ultimate praise for a late, great twin brother.

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Mayor Mike Elliott, who is Black, said at a news conference that “gassing is not a human way of policing” and he didn’t agree with police using pepper spray, tear gas and paintballs against demonstrators.

BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. — Elected leaders in the Minneapolis suburb where a police officer fatally shot Daunte Wright want officers to scale back their tactics amid nightly protests, leaving some law enforcement called in to assist asking whether the city still wants their help.

Hundreds of demonstrators have gathered outside the heavily guarded Brooklyn Center police station every night since former Officer Kim Potter, who is white, shot the 20-year-old Black motorist during a traffic stop on Sunday. Protesters have shouted profanities and at times shaken a security fence police erected outside the building and lobbed water bottles at officers. Police have driven away protesters with tear gas grenades, rubber bullets, flash-bang grenades and long lines of riot police.

Those tactics have not sat well with Brooklyn Center city officials.

Mayor Mike Elliott, who is Black, said at a news conference that “gassing is not a human way of policing” and he didn’t agree with police using pepper spray, tear gas and paintballs against demonstrators. Elliott didn’t respond to multiple messages Friday morning.

Protests continued after Potter was charged with second-degree manslaughter on Wednesday. The former police chief in the majority nonwhite suburb said Potter fired her pistol when she meant to use her Taser, but protesters and Wright’s family say there’s no excuse for the shooting. Both Potter and the chief resigned Tuesday.

The Brooklyn Center City Council on Monday passed a resolution banning the city’s officers from using tear gas and other chemicals, chokeholds and using police lines to arrest demonstrators. The resolution also allows protesters to videotape police.

But Brooklyn Center police aren’t dealing with protesters on their own. Other agencies, including the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department and the Minnesota National Guard, have provided support at the city’s request in a joint effort dubbed Operation Safety Net. The city’s resolution isn’t binding on those agencies.

Sheriff David Hutchinson asked Elliott in a letter on Wednesday to clarify whether he still wanted the department’s help.

“The city’s actions since Sunday evening have created significant confusion,” Hutchinson wrote. “In order to maintain peace and safety, it is critical that the City of Brooklyn Center communicate with its State, County, and local law enforcement partners regarding its ongoing need for mutual aid.”

Tensions in the area were already high amid the nearby trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in the death last year of George Floyd. The release Thursday of graphic police body camera footage showing a Chicago officer fatally shooting 13-year-old Adam Toledo, a Hispanic boy, in March has further enflamed the situation.

Brooklyn Center has instituted a curfew each night, but in the last few nights, the gatherings have been declared unlawful well before then.

Local Progress Minnesota, a group of liberal-leaning local elected officials, echoed the call for an end to using tear gas and said curfew declarations should also end.

“The last few nights have been marred with unconscionable acts of oppression,” the group said in a letter. “This is not how we build a safer place for one another.”

Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who doubles as commander-in-chief of the Minnesota National Guard, said at a Thursday news conference that he’s concerned about tactics but that police are trying to protect the community.

He said protesters might have burned down the police station and other buildings if police hadn’t intervened — lessons he learned after a Minneapolis police station burned during protests last year over Floyd’s death. Those demonstrations damaged more than 1,000 buildings across the Twin Cities area.

“I’ve learned from the past,” Walz said. “(The Brooklyn Center station) would have been burned down, and my fear is the surrounding apartments would have been burned, too. I trust our safety officials to be very judicious and think about this.”

Police say Wright was pulled over for expired tags, but they sought to arrest him after discovering he had an outstanding warrant. The warrant was for his failure to appear in court on charges that he fled from officers and possessed a gun without a permit during an encounter with Minneapolis police in June.

Body camera video shows Wright struggling with police after they say they’re going to arrest him. Potter, a 26-year veteran, pulls her service pistol and is heard repeatedly yelling “Taser!” before firing. She then says, “Holy (expletive), I shot him.”

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Richmond contributed from Madison, Wisconsin.

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Mohamed Ibrahim is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

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Nearly 1.3 million residents have contracted the virus over the past year, compared to about 3.2 million who are now fully vaccinated — nearly a quarter of the population.

Public health officials on Friday announced Illinois’ second-most productive COVID-19 vaccination day yet with 166,885 doses going into arms statewide.

Nearly a quarter of all Illinoisans are now fully immunized against the coronavirus after Thursday’s shot effort, which came a week after the state set a record with almost 176,000 administered doses.

Illinois is now averaging about 130,000 shots per day as Chicago vaccine providers prepare to expand eligibility to all residents 16 and older starting Monday.

A federal pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine means there won’t be as many appointments available as officials might have thought a week ago, but the state has downplayed that obstacle. J&J doses only account for about 8% of Illinois’ vaccine supply.

Most appointments at city-run sites will go ahead as scheduled next week after shuffling around some doses, according to the Chicago Department of Public Health.

Mass vax sites at the United Center and Chicago State University will use Pfizer doses instead of J&J, as will the off-site Walgreens clinics that are scheduled to distribute doses at houses of worship this weekend, officials said Friday. The city’s program for homebound residents has switched to Pfizer, too.

The Chicago Federation of Labor vaccination site will receive Pfizer and Moderna doses too, but that South Side location will temporarily be limited to 1,200 doses per week.

Three other city efforts are at a full stop for now, including the O’Hare Airport vaccination site for transportation workers and a series of Illinois Restaurant Association events. The city’s “vaccination bus” is out of service, too.

COVID-19 infections have been on the rise for the past month even while the vaccine effort picks up momentum — but officials have expressed optimism the state might be flattening its latest curve.

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 3,866 more cases were diagnosed among the latest 93,602 tests, keeping the state’s seven-day average positivity rate at 4.2% — twice as high as it was in mid-March, but the fourth straight day it’s fallen or held steady.

Hospitals took on an additional 15 COVID-19 patients with 2,058 beds occupied Thursday night. That’s nearly a thousand more coronavirus patients than were admitted March 12.

The state also reported 21 more deaths, including that of a Cook County man in his 40s, raising Illinois’ pandemic toll to 21,630.

Nearly 1.3 million residents have contracted the virus over the past year, compared to about 3.2 million who are now fully vaccinated.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady have urged residents to get shots wherever they can find them. Thousands of appointments are available through the weekend and into next week at a federally run vaccination site in Gary, Indiana, which is open to Illinois residents.

For help finding a vaccine appointment in-state, visit coronavirus.illinois.gov or call (833) 621-1284.

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“Not only is this group focused on building a championship franchise, they are also committed to using their platform to do good and actively create a more inclusive, equitable world,” Wade said.

SALT LAKE CITY — Dwyane Wade is an NBA owner.

The Utah Jazz announced Friday that the 13-time NBA All-Star will join the youngest ownership group in the league.

The group is headed by technology entrepreneur Ryan Smith, who along with his wife, Ashley, acquired majority interest in the Jazz in late 2020.

Wade and Smith have known each other for several years and had discussed working with each other in various capacities.

“Dwyane is not only a basketball legend, he is also a great leader, businessman, and human being,” Smith said in a statement. “As we continue to build on the incredible legacy of the Utah Jazz franchise, we are excited to add Dwyane’s experience and expertise to the equation. Utah is an amazing place and I couldn’t be more thrilled about the future of the franchise and the future of this state. Dwyane’s influence will be important to both.”

Wade played 16 NBA seasons with Miami, Chicago and Cleveland before retiring after the 2018-19 season. He won three NBA titles and had his No. 3 jersey retired by the Heat last month.

“Partnering with Ryan and the Utah Jazz is the perfect fit as we share the same vision and values,” Wade said. “Not only is this group focused on building a championship franchise, they are also committed to using their platform to do good and actively create a more inclusive, equitable world. We share a lot of the same goals and are trying to go the same places in life.”

Wade talked about entering into NBA ownership in the final seasons of his career and said in 2019 that he wanted to discuss the potential of joining the Heat leadership group. The sides talked later that year, with no agreement, and it’s not known if the conversations ever resumed.

“I want to congratulate Dwyane on his recent announcement,” Heat managing general partner Micky Arison said Friday. “We had discussed having him join our ownership group after his retirement but he was not prepared to commit at the time. Of course I am disappointed that he didn’t reconsider.

“Having said that I wish him good luck and much success with the Jazz. To me Dwyane will always be a Heat lifer.”

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Get the latest news on how COVID-19 is impacting Chicago and Illinois. Follow here for live updates.

The latest

More than twice as many Illinoisans vaccinated than infected with COVID-19, as city prepares to expand eligibility

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Public health officials on Friday announced Illinois’ second-most productive COVID-19 vaccination day yet with 166,885 doses going into arms statewide.

Nearly a quarter of all Illinoisans are now fully immunized against the coronavirus after Thursday’s shot effort, which came a week after the state set a record with almost 176,000 administered doses.

Illinois is now averaging about 130,000 shots per day as Chicago vaccine providers prepare to expand eligibility to all residents 16 and older starting Monday.

A federal pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine means there won’t be as many appointments available as officials might have thought a week ago, but the state has downplayed that obstacle. J&J doses only account for about 8% of Illinois’ vaccine supply.

Most appointments at city-run sites will go ahead as scheduled next week after shuffling around some doses, according to the Chicago Department of Public Health.

Mass vax sites at the United Center and Chicago State University will use Pfizer doses instead of J&J, as will the off-site Walgreens clinics that are scheduled to distribute doses at houses of worship this weekend, officials said Friday. The city’s program for homebound residents has switched to Pfizer, too.

Read the full story here by Mitchell Armentrout here.

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News

1:05 p.m. Bulls’ Zach LaVine expected to miss several games in coronavirus protocol

Coby White appears to be lost in his bench role.

Lauri Markkanen looks like he already signed elsewhere.

Patrick Williams seems to have gone headfirst into the rookie wall.

Factor in two embarrassing losses in less than a week to the last-place Timberwolves and the tanking Magic, and, well, there’s seemingly no way things could get worse for the Bulls.

Then Thursday hit.

A noon practice was quickly cancelled after Zach LaVine entered the NBA’s health and safety protocol with a positive coronavirus test, according to a source.

The hope is LaVine only will be out a handful of days, but with the Bulls scheduled to play five games in the next seven days and with only 18 games left in the regular season, that could be the difference between holding on to the final play-in spot or sitting in a lottery position and praying for lottery luck.

Read the full story by Joe Cowley here.

12:15 p.m. US setting up $1.7B national network to track virus variants

WASHINGTON — The U.S. is setting up a $1.7 billion national network to identify and track worrisome coronavirus mutations whose spread could trigger another pandemic wave, the Biden administration announced Friday.

White House officials unveiled a strategy that features three components: a major funding boost for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health departments to ramp up coronavirus gene-mapping; the creation of six “centers of excellence” partnerships with universities to conduct research and develop technologies for gene-based surveillance of pathogens; and building a data system to better share and analyze information on emerging disease threats, so knowledge can be turned into action.

“Even as we accelerate our efforts to get shots into arms, more dangerous variants are growing, causing increases in cases in people without immunity,” White House coronavirus adviser Andy Slavitt told reporters. That “requires us to intensify our efforts to quickly test for and find the genetic sequence of the virus as it spreads.”

Read the full story here.

11:20 a.m. 10,000 COVID-19 vaccines appointments will be available noon Friday

Cook County Health will release 10,000 first-dose COVID-19 vaccines Friday.

The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines will be available through appointment at noon Friday, according to Cook County Health.

Appointments will be available for anyone 16 years old and older, the agency said.

Read the full story and find out how to sign up here.

10:45 a.m. After contracting COVID-19, ex-Chicago Outlaws Motorcycle Club boss Orvie Cochran gets early prison release

After Outlaws Motorcycle Club boss Orville “Orvie” Cochran survived a shooting outside the biker gang’s South Side clubhouse in 2000 — he slipped on some ice and fell, thus avoiding a hail of bullets — a former friend described him as “- – – damn lucky.”

Cochran’s luck still hasn’t run out.

Arrested in 2017 after being on the run for 16 years to avoid racketeering charges, he caught a break on his sentence. And now — after contracting the coronavirus in prison — Cochran has gotten a federal judge to free him from prison six months early.

The judge ordered a “compassionate” release for Cochran, who had asked for that even before getting infected because, he said, he was afraid he would and had health problems that could make COVID especially dangerous for him.

Read the complete story by Robert Herguth here.

9 a.m. What is a COVID-19 vaccine passport, and will you need one?

What is a COVID-19 vaccine passport, and will I need one?

“Vaccine passports,” or vaccine certificates, are documents that show you were vaccinated against COVID-19 or recently tested negative for the virus. They could help you get into places such as stadiums or even countries that are looking to reopen safely.

The certificates are still being developed, and how and whether they’ll be used could vary widely around the world. Experts say they should be free and available on paper, not just on apps, since not everyone has a smartphone.

In the U.S., federal officials say there are no plans to make them broadly mandatory. In some states, Republican governors have issued orders barring businesses or state agencies from asking people to show proof of vaccination.

Read the full story here.

8:30 a.m. Pause on Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine won’t affect United Center appointments, city’s top doc says

Appointments at the United Center’s COVID-19 mass vaccination site will go on as scheduled next week with Pfizer doses being administered instead of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine that’s been shelved nationwide, officials said Thursday.

The city’s most prominent mass vax site has been doling out Pfizer since it launched a month ago in a parking lot across the street from the Near West Side arena.

That’ll still be the case Monday, which is when the federally run site had been scheduled to switch to J&J doses — until a handful of extremely rare blood clots tied to that vaccine prompted a temporary suspension this week while experts investigate.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will provide additional Pfizer doses in its place, meaning plans won’t change for anyone with a United Center appointment, according to Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady.

“Everybody who has an appointment from Monday on at the United Center can keep that appointment. You do not need to do a thing. You will just receive Pfizer instead of Johnson & Johnson,” Arwady said during an online Q&A.

Read Mitchell Armentrout’s full story here.

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New cases & vaccination numbers

• The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 3,581 new cases of the disease were diagnosed Wednesday among 105,661 tests to keep the state’s average testing positivity rate at 4.2%.
• About one quarter of Illinois residents have been fully vaccinated so far, with 138,538 doses administered Tuesday. The state also reported 3,536 new cases and 31 more deaths.
• Pritzker office staffer tests positive for COVID-19. The staff member was not in close contact with Gov. Pritzker Monday, or in previous days.
• Staff member of state House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch tests positive for COVID-19. The staff member was tested Monday as part of the Legislature’s required protocols to return to in-person work in the Capitol.

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Less than a month after making his varsity football debut, Maine South’s Chris Petrucci is a Power Five recruit.

Less than a month after making his varsity football debut, Maine South’s Chris Petrucci is a Power Five recruit.

The junior tight end and linebacker announced Wednesday on Twitter he has committed to Northwestern, which extended a scholarship offer the day before.

Petrucci, a three-star prospect ranked ninth among Illinois juniors by 247Sports.com, is the Wildcats’ second recruit in the class of 2022. He joins Naperville Central receiver Reggie Fleurima, who is ranked fifth among Illinois juniors.

“He checks all the boxes,” Maine South coach Dave Inserra said of Petrucci, a 6-5, 210-pounder. “Work ethic, family, grades — everything. He’s got the size, he’s got intangibles.”

What Petrucci didn’t have was varsity experience, until this pandemic-delayed season.

“That was maybe the question some had,” Inserra said. “‘That was at the sophomore level. What about at the varsity level?’”

But Petrucci clearly has erased any doubts during the Hawks’ 4-0 start. He has 15 offers, including Illinois. Iowa and Minnesota in the Big Ten; Kentucky in the SEC; and Columbia, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton and Yale in the Ivy League.

“He creates mismatches because of his size, and he runs well,” Inserra said.

And that size also had two SEC programs looking at Petrucci on defense.

“Kentucky and Tennessee were recruiting him that way because he’s so long,” Inserra said.

Petrucci will be the second Hawk on the Northwestern roster. He joins offensive lineman Peter Skoronski, who not only started as a true freshman last fall but also was named a Freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association of America and second-team All-Big Ten.

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PORT FOURCHON, La. — Divers searching for oil industry workers on a capsized lift boat prepared to enter the vessel Friday, a rescue effort complicated by daunting technical challenges and continued bad weather.

The hope is that the 12 missing people have found air pockets to survive inside the Seacor Power, most of which is submerged in 50-foot seas about 8 miles off the Louisiana coast.

“Right now, we’re hoping for a miracle,” said Steven Walcott, brother of missing worker Gregory Walcott.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Carlos Galarza said early Friday that as long as weather permits, divers will try to get into the vessel.

Two of the missing had been communicating with rescuers by two-way radio Tuesday after the ungainly platform ship flipped over in hurricane-force winds that day. They were spotted clinging to the overturned hull but returned to seek shelter inside after a third man fell into the water and was lost. There have not been any signs of life since then, officials said.

Time is of the essence because air pockets will eventually become depleted of oxygen, said Mauritius Bell, diving safety officer at the California Academy of Sciences.

“It would be somewhat analogous to breathing in and out of a paper bag,” he added. “At some point, it’s not survivable.”

Surviving could depend on the size of the pocket. “The larger the better, and it’s all about time,” Bell said.

On Thursday, searchers knocked on the ship’s hull without response.

“There is the potential they are still there, but we don’t know,” Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Lally said Thursday. “We’re still searching for 12 people because there are 12 still missing.”

Relatives of the missing gathered at a fire station at Port Fourchon, a sprawling base for much of the offshore oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico. The port, busy with cranes, cargo and heavy equipment, is where workers from across Louisiana and beyond load up on a fleet of helicopters and ships that take them to the rigs for long stretches of work.

Marion Cuyler, who is engaged to crane operator Chaz Morales, wavered between optimism and fear after the relatives got closed-door briefings from Seacor executives and the Coast Guard. She said she believes all 12 are inside the vessel.

“Hopefully, they are all in one room, and they can just rescue them all in one day,” she said.

The families expressed frustration during the briefing, and want answers to their questions about why the boat ventured out to sea despite warnings of an approaching storm, she said.

“I asked, ‘Who gave the orders’ and of course — silence,” she said. Cuyler said she’d told her husband-to-be that he shouldn’t be going out in such weather. “And he knew they shouldn’t have been going out.”

Bell said it’s fortunate that rescuers know the design of the vessel.

“It’s not like they’re diving an old wreck that’s dilapidated and falling apart,” he said. “One of the things that you do have going for them, that is in their favor, is that it was a working boat, so you would know the layout of the vessel.”

Six people were rescued shortly after the vessel capsized Tuesday. The first Coast Guard ship arrived at the scene at 5:10 p.m, about 40 minutes after the initial distress signal, and spotted five men clinging to the hull, Galarza said.

A helicopter crew from the Bristow marine company lowered life vests and two-way VHF radios to them, he said. Two of the men dropped into the water and were picked up by the Coast Guard. About the same time, Good Samaritan vessels rescued four other people, he said.

The Coast Guard was able to talk to the three people still on the ship’s hull using the radios, but the sea was too rough to reach them. Later Tuesday night, the Coast Guard was notified that one person had fallen in the water and wasn’t seen again.

Shortly before 10 p.m., the two remaining people told the Coast Guard they were going back inside, and that was the last time the Coast Guard spoke with them, Galarza said.

On Thursday, a Coast Guard crew came within a few yards of the capsized vessel and threw a hammer at the hull in an attempt to make contact with potential survivors, the agency said. If there was any response, they couldn’t hear it over the wind and engine noise, they said.

One person’s body was recovered from the water Wednesday as searchers scanned an area roughly the size of Hawaii, the Coast Guard said. The Lafourche Parish Coroner’s Office identified him as David Ledet, 63, of Thibodaux — a town in southeastern Louisiana where many people work in the oil industry.

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Martin contributed from Woodstock, Ga.

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A young boy is handed a gun by someone older, chased down a Southwest Side alley by a police officer and shot to death.

It’s a series of events now commanding the attention of Chicago, which had been anxiously awaiting the release of police body-camera video of the fatal shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo.

But a similar scenario played out nearly 30 years ago when an officer shot and killed a 12-year-old boy in Brighton Park — the youngest Chicago police shooting victim in recent memory.

Debra Fahrforth still doesn’t believe her son had a gun, as police said, when an officer shot 12-year-old Joey Chlopek the afternoon of June 6, 1992.

“I’ll never believe what the cops said about that day. My boy was jumping over the fence” when he was shot, said Fahrforth, 60.

It was nearly three decades ago, but she lives with it every day, surprised it didn’t prompt her to take her own life.

“When he died, I died,” she said.

The police said Joey was shot after pointing a .22-caliber pistol at a plainclothes officer, David Jarmusz, during a foot chase. Shot three times in an alley, Joey collapsed in a backyard in the 3000 block of West 38th Street.

Other than Jarmusz, there were no witnesses.

That 1992 police shooting has parallels with the fatal shooting in March of 13-year-old Adam Toledo, who was also running from an officer — according to the police, with a gun in his hand.

Prosecutors have said Adam was handed the gun by a 21-year-old man who had fired at a passing car minutes earlier. Officers found Adam and the man in an alley and chased them. One of the officers shot Adam in the chest as the boy turned around by a fence behind Farragut Career Academy High School. According to the video, he wasn’t holding a gun when he was shot.

In Joey’s shooting, the police said they were searching for an 18-year-old gang member and saw Joey trying to hide a gun as he stood with a group playing basketball outside Davis Elementary School, 3014 W. 39th Pl.

As the officer approached Joey, the child began to run, leading to the chase. The police said the pursuit wound through several alleys into a partially paved gangway and that Jarmusz entered the gangway from the front, identified himself and ordered Joey to stop, but the boy pointed the gun at the cop, who started shooting, hitting Joey three times.

Joey fell dead in a backyard between the front gate and a peach tree. He’d had to hop a fence to get into the yard. The police said Joey’s gun was found in a vegetable garden in the yard.

A 14-year-old boy was later charged with handing the gun to Joey at the school before the chase began.

Fahrforth says she still isn’t sure what to believe about what happened that day, pointing out that the officer had shot and wounded two other people at that point in his then-19-year career with Chicago Police Department.

The lack of video in Joey’s shooting is the most striking difference with Adam’s shooting and a source of Fahrforth’s doubt.

“I wish they had a camcorder … I’m still very doubtful” about what happened, she said.

She watched the video of Adam being shot and wonders whether that was how her own boy was killed.

“I thought: That’s my son running, not knowing what to do, scared to stop, scared to run,” she said. “And the results are: He’s gone. I feel so bad for that family. It does remind me of Joey running out of the park. It really does.”

Sun-Times file

Fahrforth filed a federal lawsuit against the officer and the city, saying Joey couldn’t have had a gun when he was shot. A judge ruled in favor of the city and the officer in 1995.

According to the lawsuit, Joey couldn’t have been holding a gun because the police said he had it in his right hand, but he was lefthanded. The suit also said Joey couldn’t have been pointing the gun at the officer because an autopsy showed the three bullets entered Joey’s side. There were no fingerprints on the gun that matched Joey’s, though the police said that about half of recovered guns didn’t have usable prints.

Fahrforth said she believes the police planted the gun on Joey, who she said was running home and had a key in his hand when he was shot. She thinks that, had there been video, it would have vindicated her son.

“If there was a video, we would’ve won,” she said.

The officer didn’t respond to a message seeking comment.

Fahrforth thinks Joey was portrayed unfairly in news reports, which she said exaggerated parts of the story and painted him as a bad kid. They said Joey had a gang tattoo on the inside of one of his fingers, which the police cited as proof he was in a gang. Family and friends disputed the meaning of the tattoo.

Fahrforth said she didn’t know about any gang connections her son had, that relatives hid that from her. She said she did her best to supervise Joey but was working two jobs.

Of Adam Toledo’s mom, Fahrforth said: “I feel for this mother. You don’t think your baby can be doing anything wrong or would be doing anything wrong. You think the streets grabbed him. I don’t know. The streets are powerful, I will say that.”

Nearly 30 years later, Fahrforth said she thinks police culture hasn’t improved. And she remains bitter about the way she thinks the police treated her even after an officer shot and killed her child.

“It’s something taken from you that you think you would never have to go through,” she said. “Do I think anything’s changed? No, I think it’s even worse today. I think there’s more trigger-happy officers out there.”

Fahrforth said she learned of her son’s death at work.

“I said to my boss, ‘My son’s dead.’ … But I never thought it was a cop. In my wildest dream, I thought it was a gang shooting. … Never thought it was an officer until I got there. And when I got there, I tried to go to my son and they wouldn’t let me. They said, ‘Cross the line, and we’ll shoot you next.’ “

Fahrforth said she asked for police protection at her house during Joey’s wake, but didn’t get it.

“We were treated like garbage,” she said. “You know, I’m still bitter with the police department.

“I know all the money in the world couldn’t bring my son back. No mother can get over this. You never get over it. You learn to live with it. I know God says to forgive, but the only thing it makes me do is accept death now.”

Fahrforth said the death of her son has been “the hardest thing” in her life.

“I’m surprised I didn’t commit suicide, to tell you the truth,” she said. “When he died, I died. Part of me went with him. I have to live with this every day. Does this officer have to live with it? He’s taking his pension right now.

“There’s three answers and only one right one,” Fahrforth said. “There’s [the officer’s] story and my thoughts, and then there’s God that knows what happened.”

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WASHINGTON — A heavy metal guitarist on Friday became the first defendant to plead guilty to federal charges in connection with the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Jon Ryan Schaffer, the frontman of the band Iced Earth, has agreed to cooperate with investigators in hopes of getting a lighter sentence, and the Justice Department will consider putting Schaffer in the federal witness security program, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta said.

This signals that federal prosecutors see him as a valuable cooperator as they continue to investigate the militia groups and other extremists involved in the insurrection on Jan. 6 as Congress was meeting to certify President Joe Biden’s electoral win.

Schaffer, a supporter of former President Donald Trump, was accused of storming the Capitol and spraying police officers with bear spray. He pleaded guilty in a deal with prosecutors in federal court in Washington to two counts: obstruction of an official proceeding, and entering and remaining in a restricted building with a dangerous or deadly weapon.

An email seeking comment was sent to an attorney for Schaffer.

Schaffer is among more than 370 people facing federal charges in the deadly insurrection, which sent lawmakers into hiding and delayed the certification of Biden’s win. The Justice Department has indicated it is in separate plea negotiations with other defendants.

Authorities say Schaffer was caught on camera holding bear spray and engaging in verbal altercations with officers in the Capitol. Schaffer was wearing a baseball hat that read “Oath Keepers Lifetime Member” on Jan. 6, but was not charged in the large case involving members and associates of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group, who are accused of conspiring with one another to block the certification of the vote.

Schaffer has voiced various conspiracy theories, once telling a German news station that a shadowy criminal enterprise is trying to run the world under a communist agenda and that he and others are prepared to fight, with violence.

In court documents, the FBI said Schaffer “has long held far-right extremist views” and that he had previously “referred to the federal government as a ‘criminal enterprise.'”

He turned himself in to the FBI a few weeks after the riot, after his photograph was featured on an FBI poster seeking the public’s help in identifying rioters.

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INDIANAPOLIS — Police scoured a Fedex facility in Indianapolis and interviewed scores of witnesses Friday in search of a motive for the latest mass shooting to rock the U.S., as family members of the eight victims spent agonizing hours waiting for word on their loved ones.

Authorities identified the shooter as a young man in his 20s. They said they could not yet say why he opened fire with a rifle late Thursday night at a FedEx processing center near the Indianapolis airport.

Police Chief Randal Taylor also noted that a “significant” number of employees at the facility are members of the Sikh community. Taylor spoke from a hotel where family members are awaiting word on their loved ones. He says he will stay with the families until they get more information.

Deputy Chief Craig McCartt of the Indianapolis police said the gunman started randomly shooting at people in the parking lot and then went into the building and continued firing. He said the gunman apparently died by suicide shortly before police entered the building.

“There was no confrontation with anyone that was there,” he said. “There was no disturbance, there was no argument. He just appeared to randomly start shooting.”

McCartt said four people were killed outside the building and another four inside. Several people were also wounded, including five taken to the hospital.

The carnage took just a couple of minutes. “It did not last very long,” he said.

Officials with the coroner’s office said they had not been able to get to the scene to identify the victims because evidence is still being collected.

The families’ agonizing waiting was exacerbated by the fact that most employees aren’t allowed to carry cellphones inside the FedEx building, making contact with them difficult.

“When you see notifications on your phone, but you’re not getting a text back from your kid and you’re not getting information and you still don’t know where they are … what are you supposed to do?” Mindy Carson said early Friday, fighting back tears.

At 11:30 a.m., Carson said she had just heard from her daughter, Jessica, who works in the facility. She said her daughter was OK and she was going to meet her, but didn’t say where.

It was the latest in a recent string of mass shootings across the U.S. Last month, eight people were fatally shot at massage businesses across the Atlanta area, and 10 died in gunfire at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado.

It was at least the third mass shooting this year in Indianapolis alone. Five people, including a pregnant woman, were shot and killed in January, and a man was accused of killing three adults and a child before abducting his daughter during at argument at a home in March.

Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said the community must guard against resignation and “the assumption that this is simply how it must be and we might as well get used to it.”

President Joe Biden said he had been briefed on the shooting and called gun violence “an epidemic” in the U.S.

“Too many Americans are dying every single day from gun violence. It stains our character and pierces the very soul of our nation,” he said in a statement.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was “horrified and heartbroken” by the shooting and called for congressional action on gun control.

“As we pray for the families of all affected, we must work urgently to enact commonsense gun violence prevention laws to save lives & prevent this suffering,” the Democratic leader said in a tweet.

A witness said that he was working inside the building when he heard several gunshots in rapid succession.

“I see a man come out with a rifle in his hand and he starts firing and he starts yelling stuff that I could not understand,” Levi Miller told WTHR-TV. “What I ended up doing was ducking down to make sure he did not see me because I thought he would see me and he would shoot me.”

Gov. Eric Holcomb ordered flags to be flown at half-staff until April 20, and he and others decried the shooting, with some noting how frequent such attacks are.

Chris Bavender, a spokesperson for the FBI’s Indianapolis office, said that they are helping the police with the investigation.

A man told WTTV that his niece was sitting in the driver’s seat of her car when the gunfire erupted, and she was wounded.

“She got shot on her left arm,” said Parminder Singh. “She’s fine, she’s in the hospital now.”

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Casey Smith is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

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