Chicago cop sues estate of the teen he shot

CHICAGO A Chicago police officer who fatally shot a 19-year-old college student and accidentally killed his 55-year-old neighbor has filed a lawsuit against the teen’s estate seeking emotional and punitive damages.

The counterclaim filed by officer Robert Rialmo says that student Quintonio LeGrier acted in a “criminal ... malicious and wanton manner” leading to the shooting that has caused “extreme emotional trauma” for the policeman.

The Dec. 26 shooting deaths of LeGrier and Bettie Jones added to tension in this city that was reeling from the release of a police video in late November that showed a white officer, Jason Van Dyke, fatally shoot a black teen, Laquan McDonald, 16 times.

The counterclaim filed by Rialmo in Cook County Circuit Court on Friday offers the first public account of the incident by the police officer.

Shortly before Rialmo and other officers arrived on the scene, responding to a domestic disturbance involving LeGrier, LeGrier’s father asked Jones, his downstairs tenant, to be on the lookout for police officers and let them into the building when they arrived, according to the families.

According to Rialmo’s counterclaim, Jones answered the front door and told him the disturbance was upstairs. The counterclaim says Rialmo stepped into the foyer as Jones walked away and could hear someone charging down the staircase.

Rialmo says LeGrier took a full swing with a baseball bat that missed his head by just inches. Rialmo said he backed away to the top step of the front porch and repeatedly yelled at LeGrier to drop the bat, but the teen continued to move toward him, swung the bat and just missed striking the officer.

The lawsuit argues that Rialmo believed that if he did not use deadly force, LeGrier would have killed him. Rialmo drew his handgun and fired eight times at LeGrier, striking him six times. The officer says LeGrier and the building blocked his view of Jones, who was still in the front doorway. The fourth round that Rialmo fired passed through LeGrier and struck Jones, according to the lawsuit.

The families of LeGrier and Jones filed separate lawsuits against the city last month.