Man Shot By Amtrak Officer Is Paralyzed, Was Unarmed: Family

By Stephen Gossett in News on Feb 11, 2017 12:27AM

The family of the Minneapolis man who was shot by an Amtrak police officer on Wednesday night said he is paralyzed and struggling for his life, according to reports.

According to accounts from his sister, Chad Robertson, a 25-year-old father of two, has a bullet lodged near his spine and has been slipping in and out of consciousness as a result of the shooting, which happened at around 8:45 pm near the intersection of Canal and Van Buren streets, just south of Union Station.

Police did not recover a weapon from the scene; and Dennis Hopson, a lawyer representing Robertson's family, said he was unarmed, according to reports.

Authorities said they recovered cash and drugs from the scene, but, according to the Sun-Times, Hopson said Robertson had only "an insignificant amount" of marijuana.

At a new conference on Friday, Robertson's family reportedly said he was waiting for a Megabus after having returned from a wedding in Memphis and took shelter in Union Station to keep warm during a layover. After encountering two officers, one of them "aggressive and disrespectful," according to Hopson, Robertson left with his two companions. His friend was then followed by the officers after returning to the station to recover forgotten bags, eventually being stopped, along with Robertson and another person, by those officers, Hopson said, via the Sun-Times. Robertson was then shot after he fled when one of the officers reached into Robertson's pocket, the attorney said.

Amtrak said in a statement on Friday that the officers involved are on administrative leave and that they are cooperating with Chicago police in the investigation.

Local activists started a fundraiser to help with costs while Robertson's family is in Chicago.