JUSTICE

Chicago Cop Wrongly Shot, Killed Two, Officials Rule

Officer said he fired in self-defense. An investigation found “no reasonable” threat from Quintonio LeGrier.

A Chicago police officer wrongfully shot and killed a 19-year-old who was carrying a baseball bat and a 55-year-old bystander in 2015, a police oversight group ruled, according to the Chicago Tribune. Officer Robert Rialmo claimed to have shot in self-defense, after Quintonio LeGrier came down the stairs of his home with a baseball bat. But a police investigation ruled that LeGrier was far from Rialmo and could not have swung the bat at him at the time of the shots. Rialmo fired eight shots, striking LeGrier six times in the chest and a neighbor, Bettie Jones, once, killing them both. The police oversight office ruled that a “reasonable officer” would not have opened fire.