Disturbing 911 Calls: Teen Called For Help Before Police Fatally Shot Him

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Jan 25, 2016 10:35PM

CHICAGO, IL - DECEMBER 27: Family, friends and supporters gather outside the home of Bettie Jones and Quintonio LeGrier during a vigil.(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Before a Chicago police officer fatally shot Quintonio LeGrier in his West Side home, the black teenager made three calls to 911 that police did not respond to. New audio released Monday afternoon shows LeGrier begging an operator to send someone to respond to an "emergency," and the operator refusing to because he would not give his name.

LeGrier was fatally shot in his home just after Christmas Day by a police officer responding to a call from LeGrier's father. LeGrier was allegedly wielding a baseball bat, and he was fatally struck by several shots, according to reports. His neighbor, 55-year-old Bettie Jones, was fatally shot at the same time in a move that the police department has labelled "an accident." LeGriers' family is suing the city over what happened, as details about the early morning events, and how the police department will respond, slowly trickle out from CPD, the Independent Police Review Authority and City Hall.

IPRA said in a news release Monday that the Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communication only just recently identified the new 911 recordings and shared them with IPRA. On the recordings, LeGrier can be heard at about 4:18 a.m. on Dec. 26 asking an operator to send a police officer to his home.

"I need to talk to an officer," he says. "What's wrong?" the operator asks. "Someone is threatening my life," LeGrier responds.

The operator appears to grow impatient with him after asking him to give his last name several times. "It's an emergency," LeGrier said in response, before the operator said she would hang up if he didn't answer her questions.

In a second 911 call, LeGrier repeatedly pleads, "can you please send the police," to an operator who also asks him to provide his name before the call ends.

The lawyer for Antonio LeGrier, LeGrier's father, told the Sun-Times he found the 911 dispatcher's conduct "disgusting." "They obfuscate the fact that they hung up on Quintonio the first time," attorney Basileios Foutris said. “This is the not way 911 calls should be handled.”

The police review authority also released audio of the father calling 911, saying his son is armed with a bat.

You can listen to the disturbing calls, posted to Soundcloud, below: