Police shot a 34-year-old man in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood Saturday afternoon, authorities said.
The man was shot in the legs by gang enforcement officers near the 6100 block of South Rockwell Street about 4:15 p.m., according to police. The shooting was confirmed by Larry Merritt, a spokesman for the Independent Police Review Authority.
Police were in the area near Rockwell and 61st streets and went toward the man “to conduct a narcotics investigation,” police said in a statement.
When an officer approached the man and identified himself, the man turned and pointed a handgun at him, according to the statement. The man fled but ran into two other officers and pointed the gun at them.
Officers then fired at the man, hitting him. A gun was found at the scene, police said.
The man was taken to an area hospital with gunshot wounds to the legs, and his condition had stabilized, according to the statement.
Police did not release information on where the man was being treated, but the man’s mother said he was at Mount Sinai Hospital.
Relatives at the scene identified the man as Eric Pettway. They disputed police statements that Pettway had a gun.
Glenda Pettway, Eric Pettway’s mother, said she did not see the incident but said he was confronted by police and started running.
“They shot him and next thing I know the whole block was filled up with police,” Pettway said.
Eric Pettway’s girlfriend, Keyna Thomas, said she was with Eric Pettway as the shooting unfolded. Thomas called the incident “so unnecessary” and said it was a police officer who “was doing all the damn shooting.”
Police referred further questions to the IPRA, but IPRA officials do not answer questions about ongoing investigations into police shootings, and after confirming that the shooting took place, Merritt referred further questions to police.
