City police: Suspect in robbery dies after cops tase, shoot him

A Chicago police officer deployed a Taser twice and then another shot a robbery suspect who lunged toward an officer while brandishing a large knife Saturday afternoon outside a South Shore neighborhood pizzeria, police said.

Officers responded to a call just after 3:15 p.m. of a man wanted for a robbery that had occurred in the 2600 block of East 79th Street, Chief of Patrol Fred Waller told reporters during a news conference near the scene.

Officers spoke to a robbery victim who gave them a description of the person responsible and the direction he left. Officers went to that area and saw a man who fit the description of the suspect near 79th Street and Marquette Avenue, outside a pizzeria, Waller said.

He was holding a large knife, described as about 8 to 10 inches long, when he was confronted by police.

An officer told him to drop the knife, but he advanced toward the officers, who continued to instruct him to drop the knife, Waller said. A female officer then deployed her Taser twice.

The Taser had no effect on the man, Waller said. A male officer then fired three times, and Waller said he believes the man was struck twice in the chest.

Officers then rendered some aid to the man and called an ambulance, which took him initially in “grave” condition to the University of Chicago Medical Center, said Waller and Chicago Fire Department Chief Walter Schroeder. But the Cook County medical examiner’s office said he was pronounced dead there at 4:08 p.m.

The man had robbed several people with the knife before the shooting had occurred, Waller said. At least one of the robberies took place on the street. It is not known yet how many victims there were.

“It’s just another example of us attempting to use less lethal force initially and that did not stop the threat, and he continued to advance,” Waller said.

The officers’ body-worn cameras were working at the time of the incident, and a pod camera also captured the incident, police said.

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability is investigating the incident, and the two officers involved will be placed on desk duty for 30 days, department per policy.