By Liam Ford and Alexandra Chachkevitch
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — A man or boy who had been threatening suicide was shot and killed by police after attacking an officer with a knife Thursday night in the West Woodlawn neighborhood, police said.
The incident took place about 6:40 p.m. in the 400 block of East Marquette Road, according to a statement from Police News Affairs.
Grand Crossing District officers responded to a call of a man threatening suicide in that area and found a male sitting on a porch, according to the statement and the audio of Chicago police Deputy Chief Berscott Ruiz’s statement at the scene.
Once police officers pulled up and exited their vehicle, the male charged at a police officer with a knife, stabbing him twice in his vest, according to Ruiz, who was citing preliminary information.
The man, whose age police did not release, then started walking eastbound after stabbing the officer.
“Officers engaged him at that time again, asking to put his weapon down,” Ruiz said. “He turned around and charged at the police officers again, and he was shot twice in the torso.”
The man was taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County where he was later pronounced dead, according to a police source.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office could not confirm the fatality immediately.
The police officer who was stabbed was transported to an area hospital with minor injuries and was listed in good condition, according to Ruiz.
Police confiscated the knife at the scene, according to the statement.
Police referred all questions regarding the shooting to the Independent Police Review Authority. A spokesman for the IPRA did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
A spokesman for the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 did not have detailed information on the incident.
Copyright 2014 the Chicago Tribune