CHICAGO (AP) - The Latest on the fatal shooting of a man by a Chicago police officer (all times local):
3:00 p.m.
An autopsy has determined that a man fatally shot on Chicago’s South Side by police was shot in the back.
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office on Wednesday said that 24-year-old Maurice Granton, Jr. died of a gunshot wound to the back.
The shooting happened Wednesday night. Police say officers watching the area via a surveillance camera spotted Granton taking part in an apparent drug transaction. They say he appeared to be armed and when they approached him, he ran away and when officers told him to stop he “produced a weapon.” After the officer shot him, police say they recovered a gun near where he was shot. They say that there is evidence that the gun was fired at the scene.
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2:30 p.m.
Chicago Police say the man fatally shot by an officer on the city’s South Side was taking part in a suspected illegal drug transaction moments before the shooting. Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi (goo-lee-EHL’-mee) says the department dispatched officers to the scene after other officers watching the area via a surveillance camera spotted 24-year-old Maurice Granton Jr. taking part in what appeared to be an illegal drug transaction.
When officers arrived, police say Granton ran and “produced a weapon.” Officers ordered him to stop running. After the officer shot him, police recovered what they say was the gun Granton was carrying and Guglielmi later posted on Twitter a photograph of the gun. He also says that there is evidence the gun was fired at the scene.
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12:25 p.m.
Chicago police have posted a photograph of a handgun they say a man was carrying when he was fatally shot by an officer on the city’s South Side.
Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi (goo-lee-EHL’-mee) posted the photo on Twitter Thursday.
He says the weapon was recovered at the scene of the Wednesday night shooting death of 24-year-old Maurice Granton Jr.
Granton’s relatives have expressed doubts that the weapon belonged to him, and say they want to know why Granton was shot as he ran away.
Police say Granton was shot during a narcotics investigation. They say when officers approached on foot, he ran. They say when the officers ordered him to stop, he “produced a weapon,” prompting an officer to shoot him.
Granton was pronounced dead at University of Chicago Hospital.
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6:40 a.m.
Relatives of a man who was fatally shot by a Chicago police officer during a narcotics investigation say they want answers about why the confrontation turned deadly.
The shooting happened Wednesday night in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the city’s South Side.
Police say the suspect fled on foot when officers approached. A police statement early Thursday says officers told the man to stop and he “produced a weapon,” so the officer shot him. The man was taken to University of Chicago Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability and the Cook County medical examiner’s office identified him as Maurice Granton Jr.
The 24-year-old man’s sister, Joanna Varnado, asked The Chicago Tribune: “Since when does running validate somebody getting shot?”
At the hospital, police and security blocked people from getting inside as tensions flared.
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11:35 p.m.
Chicago police say an officer has fatally shot a suspect after an armed confrontation.
Sgt. Rocco Alioto says the incident occurred around 8:10 p.m. in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the city’s South Side. He says the suspect fled on foot when officers approached. After the officer shot the suspect, the man was taken to University of Chicago Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi (goo-lee-EHL’-mee) tweeted earlier that the suspect’s gun was recovered by police. He added that the officer may have broken an ankle during the confrontation.
Alioto said the officer has been placed on 30-day administrative leave due to department policy.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability was investigating at the scene.
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This version of the story corrects the 11:35 p.m. item spelling of Alioto.
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