A suspect who had escaped electronic monitoring was shot and killed in a standoff with Chicago police, federal marshals and sheriff’s deputies Friday morning — an incident Police Supt. David Brown used to further his criticism of the courts.
The suspect – facing more than a dozen counts of aggravated sexual assault — was in a black Jeep when he was confronted by federal marshals and Cook County sheriff’s deputies around 9:40 a.m. in the 100 block of South Kilpatrick Avenue, in West Garfield Park, Brown told reporters.
They approached the Jeep and ordered the man out but he refused, Brown said. They then called for help from Chicago police.
The suspect displayed a gun and three police officers and a marshal opened fire, Brown said. The man was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
No officers were shot, but five police officers were taken to hospitals for evaluation, he said. Brown did not elaborate.
A handgun was recovered at the scene, police said. Brown said it was unclear if the man had fired shots at the officers, though officers at the scene can be heard on the police radio saying shots were fired at them.
As the confrontation unfolded, a sheriff’s officer radioed that there was a man with a gun inside a Jeep. A police dispatcher directed officers to the scene and warned them to “take cover.”
Soon afterwards, someone radiod, “Shots fired at police.” Minutes later, the dispatcher was told, “The offender is down.”
The suspect was wanted on 15 counts of aggravated sex assault with a firearm, and had violated his electronic home monitoring by cutting off the bracelet, Brown said. A warrant for his arrest was filed on Dec. 4, he said.
Brown used the incident to repeat once again his claim that the Cook County courts system is fueling gun violence by releasing on electronic monitoring people charged with violent crimes.
“If this debate that we’re having saves one life, then all the criticism is worth it,” said Brown, who has been accused by the county’s chief judge and prosecutor of mischaracterizing the monitoring program and using isolated cases to blame it for rising violence.
“I’ve mentioned that 7-year-old Jaslyn Adams was killed by someone on electronic monitoring,” Brown said, referring to a shooting at a McDonald’s drive-thru earlier this year. “We are advocates for the victims.”
The U.S. Marshals Service was leading the investigation into Friday morning’s shooting. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability was investigating the three Chicago officers’ use of force.
