Witnesses Dispute Red Line Shooting

By Soyoung Kwak in Miscellaneous on Sep 19, 2010 4:30PM

It was reported yesterday that a man brandishing a gun was apprehended and shot by Chicago police on the Garfield/55th Red Line stop which occurred around 1:40am Saturday morning. Now, several witnesses to the event are disputing the police account of what happened at the CTA station. In the police account, the offender began to fight with the police and point a gun at them, which prompted the police to shoot the man. But some witnesses state that the police account is inaccurate, saying that the offender actually appeared to be unarmed and that the shooting was unjustified:

"I didn't see a gun at all," said Natalie Bruce, who said she was on her way home from church when the shooting occurred. "The officers put his hands behind his back. They seemed like they were patting him down, and they tussled a little bit, but they had him pinned against the wall."

Ordered to leave the train, Bruce said she did not see the actual shooting but heard shots as she stepped onto the platform.

The man who was shot was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital after the incident occurred, and the police reported to have recovered a gun at the scene.