Looters rip through Chicago after police shooting
Hundreds of looters descended on downtown Chicago early Monday morning to break windows, loot stores and even exchange gunfire with police after an officer-involved shooting.
The chaos erupted shortly after midnight as people ransacked stores on Michigan Avenue and stole merchandise. Cars were spotted dropping more people off as the mobs grew amid the unrest.
At least 100 people were arrested and 13 officers were injured, according to Chicago Police Supt David Brown, who added a civilian and security guard were shot and injured.
‘What occurred in our downtown and surrounding communities was abject criminal behavior, pure and simple,’ Mayor Lori Lightfoot said, according to the Chicago Tribune.
‘And there cannot be any excuse for it. Period.’
Authorities said the violence began after reports of a police shooting in the city’s Englewood neighborhood spread on social media, sparking unrest.
Police said the shooting occurred Sunday after officers responded to calls of a young man with a gun. Officers reportedly found a person matching the man’s suspect, but he fled from officers when they approached him.
‘During the foot pursuit, the offender turned and fired shots at the officers. The officers returned (fire), discharging their weapons,’ police Deputy Chief Yolanda said.
The suspect was injured in the shooting and taken to University of Chicago Medical Center, although his condition is unknown.
About an hour after the shooting, a crowd of approximately 30 confronted police officers near 56th and Aberdeen after someone wrongly told the mob that police shot and wounded a child, Deputy Chief Talley told the Tribune.
The suspect who was shot is reportedly a man either in his late teens or early 20s, according to police.
‘They (the crowd) were responded to misinformation,’ Talley said.
‘It happened while we were processing the crime scene. we were holding the line and if there had not been a crime scene there, we would have not been there.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk
For more stories like this, check our news page