Students strolled after class, workers headed back in from lunch and storefronts were thrown open — a typical downtown Chicago scene even on a gray summer afternoon.
Then police squads, bikes and even ATVs suddenly descended. And a roar of voices erupted as officers chased down a man wielding a knife near Randolph and State Streets, one of the city’s busiest corners.
Moments later, the man lay dead at 190 N. State St., fatally shot by a Chicago police officer after he threatened an elderly man with the knife to his throat, police said.
The officer also shot another officer who responded to the scene, but he escaped serious injury when the bullet hit his protective vest, police said.
The whole chaotic scene played out just before 1 p.m. Thursday near the WLS-Ch. 7 studios.
Officers were called to Wabash Avenue just north of Randolph because a man was brandishing a knife, said police sources and Police Supt. Jody Weis. Once there, the officers followed him west on Randolph, trying to get him to drop the knife, sources said.
The officers also used pepper spray to try to subdue him, but it failed, Weis said.
As he turned onto State, the suspect grabbed an 80-year-old man, police said. Again, the suspect refused police commands to drop the knife, and an officer opened fire, striking both the suspect and one of several other officers who had responded to the scene, Weis said.
The suspect, who was not identified as of late Thursday, was pronounced dead at 1:09 p.m. at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Witnesses reported hearing several shots and taking cover.
“When the shots started coming up, I ducked behind the bus that was on the corner,” said Kevin Shields. “When things looked like they were clear, I came out.”
Weis and other police officials defended the shooting, saying the officers had repeatedly tried to stop the suspect. They said the officer saved a life.
“He was trying to murder an innocent elderly gentleman,” Weis said. “With that escalation of force, our officers were forced to engage him, and we used deadly force.”
Weis said the suspect might have been an “aggressive panhandler.” But it was not immediately clear why he pulled the knife or grabbed the elderly man, police said.
Weis said the officer who was shot was “doing fantastic” but would likely be badly bruised from the shooting. The bullet did not penetrate his vest.
Employees of businesses near the corner of Wabash and Randolph said there was a heavy presence of panhandlers in the area, but no one recalled seeing the suspect who was shot.
John Davenport, who said he panhandled in the area and witnessed the shooting, said he knew the suspect and that he was regularly in the neighborhood asking people for change.
“He’s around here all the time,” Davenport said. “His mind was messed up.”
Brenda McCloug, store manager of Mrs. Fields, said she saw several officers chasing the man.
“My personal feeling is he didn’t have to die,” said McCloug, who was visibly shaken after the shooting. “Somebody could have tackled him, and he would have fallen down.”
Still, other witnesses said they heard the officers yelling, “Stop, stop,” but the man didn’t.
In the minutes after the shooting, a huge crowd gathered near Channel 7’s window, their eyes glued to the scrolling ticker; others read the news from their phones.
“In broad daylight,” said witness Bobby Polk, 20. “I just left school. I wasn’t expecting this.”
———-
eslife@tribune.com
asweeney@tribune.com
