A man who had been sitting in front of a North Side gas station was shot early Wednesday in a struggle with a police officer who had stopped to see why the man was waving his arms, police said.
Kamal Mathis, 24, of the 2700 block of North Leavitt Street was charged Wednesday with aggravated battery to a police officer, police spokesman Edward Alonzo said.
Mathis was treated in Illinois Masonic Hospital for a non-life threatening gunshot wound, said police spokesman David Bayless. The officer was treated in the same hospital for head injuries and scrapes and bruises, police said. He was later released.
The 31-year-old Belmont District officer was on routine patrol when he spotted Mathis outside a building housing a Gas for Less station and a currency exchange at 2801 N. Damen Ave., north of Diversey Parkway, police said. The man was sitting on a railing in front of the gas station and waving his arms, said police spokeswoman Amina Greer.
When the officer got out of his marked car, Mathis began hitting him in the head and a struggle ensued, police said.
While the officer tried to take out a can of pepper spray to use on the man, his service pistol became unholstered and went off, striking the man in the stomach, police said.
But a lawyer for Mathis said the charges are unfair.
“We’re being held in the dark, and that’s what’s bothering me,” said the lawyer, Christopher Smith.
Police held a routine roundtable discussion on the incident, but no results were available Wednesday night, a police spokeswoman said.
A clerk working at the gas station during the shooting said the suspect “comes here a lot.” The clerk said he did not see the shooting and could not offer any details on the man.
At the gas station midday Wednesday, some nearby residents said the shooting has made them more wary.
“My husband just said maybe I should stop coming here,” said Sandra King, 44.
Mathis will face a bond hearing Thursday afternoon.
