Nora and Gary Facko got the news their son was shot and killed by the Palos Hills Police Department about 10 hours after he died Feb. 15, they said.
“He was shot about 4:20 in the morning, and we didn’t get any call until about 2 o’clock from the police,” Gary Facko said. “He died at the hospital. We could’ve got there and maybe seen him.”
Now, the parents of Gerhardt Facko, 37, are calling for more information regarding the circumstances of his death.
“Our lives will never be the same,” Nora Facko said. “Every day, I swear to God, he called me at 3 o’clock. Every day, coming home from work he would call me.”
Police said Gerhardt Facko, a Palos Hills resident, was shot following a 911 call to an address on Cour Versailles about a domestic disturbance. The caller claimed a man with a shotgun was going to harm his girlfriend and her children, police said.
“Police arrived on scene and were met by an armed suspect,” the police statement after the shooting said. “An officer involved shooting occurred.”
However, his parents say that while their son was armed, no one else was in the house when police arrived, and there was no reason for the police to have approached him aggressively.
“That’s the worst kind of approach for a situation like that,” Gary Facko said. “It created a kill-or-be-killed situation. They didn’t have to do that. Why did they do that?”
They said they want to know who called the police and what was said on the 911 call. Their daughter submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for the call, but it was denied on the basis that it contained personally identifying information.
“We want justice, because we believe that the police shot him for no reason at all,” Nora Facko said. “They shot him like he was an animal.”
Gerhardt Facko’s cause of death was listed in the Cook County medical examiner’s report as multiple gunshot wounds.
“He should’ve put his hands up, but it shouldn’t have came down to that,” Gary Facko said. “He was in front of the house. One of the bullets ended up in the mailbox. If there were people inside, they could’ve been injured.”
The Palos Hills Police Department said Thursday the Illinois State Police public integrity unit was investigating the incident, and no additional information was available.
The Fackos said they have been talking to lawyers, and that they are frustrated by a lack of communication from the police.
“We’re not looking for money. We don’t want money,” said Nora Facko. “We want to know exactly what happened.”
Gerhardt Facko wasn’t a violent person, his parents said. He worked as a stationary engineer.
“He was the one that looked out for us. He would come check on us,” Nora Facko said. “He was like the best son in the whole world you would want.”
He was the youngest of six children.
“I had six. Now I only have four, and I’m so worried,” Nora Facko said. “You’re supposed to die before your children.”
elewis@chicagotribune.com
