Shooting is the 3rd by city cops in ’04
By Manya A. Brachear, The Chicago Tribune
An off-duty Chicago police officer shot and killed a Northwest Side teenager Friday night after the 16-year-old boy allegedly ran toward him holding a gun. The incident is the third shooting by city police this year.
Nelson Cuevas Jr., 16, of the 4900 block of West Patterson Avenue, died late Friday of multiple gunshot wounds at Illinois Masonic Hospital, said a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Police spokesman Pat Camden said the off-duty officer was driving his personal car through the Portage Park neighborhood Friday night when he heard five gunshots coming from an alley near Lavergne and Patterson Avenues.
After stopping his car to investigate, the officer saw a young man running toward him holding a pistol, Camden said.
The officer identified himself and ordered the teenager to drop the gun, Camden said. When Cuevas continued to run toward him, the officer fired three times, striking the boy, Camden said.
“He thought he was going to be carjacked,” Camden said of the officer, whom he would not name. “He went above and beyond getting out of his car to investigate.”
A 9 mm semiautomatic pistol was recovered from the scene, Camden said. Camden described Cuevas as a gang member who had previous contact with police. He said a gang faction has been vying for territory in that neighborhood.
But Cuevas’ stepfather, Tony Rivera, disputed the description, saying the boy was not a gang member. Rivera described Cuevas as a “big teddy bear” and said he played football for Mather High School.
Neighbor Linda Jarmoc said she was sitting in her kitchen next to the alley when she heard three gunshots. She said she thought it was firecrackers until she looked out and saw Cuevas lying on the ground.
Jarmoc watched from her front stoop as police swarmed the crime scene. She said she was relieved to find out the shots were fired by police, not by gang members.
“It makes me feel better that it was a police officer involved,” she said. Results of a roundtable discussion regarding the shooting will be released Monday, said police spokesman Carlos Herrera.
Earlier Friday, police shot a 14-year-old boy in the leg after he allegedly stopped to pick up a gun that fell out of his pants while officers were chasing him in the Back of the Yards neighborhood.
Officers spotted the boy and another teen loitering outside Hamline Elementary School, 4747 S. Bishop St. When officers stopped to make a routine check, the two teens took off running in different directions, said police spokeswoman Alice Casanova.
One of the teens escaped. The one who was shot was arrested and taken to Stroger Hospital, Casanova said. He was charged as a juvenile with aggravated assault with a firearm and aggravated assault with a weapon, she said, adding that the .22-caliber handgun he was carrying was recovered at the scene.
On Saturday, bail was set at $100,000 for a man shot by police on New Year’s Day.
Gerald Steele, 34, of the 5600 block of South Perry Avenue, pointed a shotgun at officers in an alley near his house and was shot in the leg, Casanova said. Police later recovered six additional firearms from his home, she said.
Steele was charged with three counts of aggravated assault to a police officer and one count of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, said state’s attorney spokesman Jerry Lawrence. Steele remains in custody at Stroger Hospital, he said.
Roundtable discussions found that both of the earlier shootings were justified, Casanova said.