Cops fatally shoot panhandler, Officer shot in back.

February 23, 2011|By Becky Schlikerman and Jeremy Gorner, Tribune reporters
Abel Uribe, Chicago Tribune
Photo by Larry Lubell



A panhandler was fatally shot near a busy River North intersection Wednesday afternoon when he opened fire on two Chicago police officers, wounding one of them in the back, police said.

Witnesses said the chaotic scene at Chicago Avenue and Wells Street unfolded in broad daylight in an area amid nightclubs, upscale restaurants, art galleries and the Moody Bible Institute.

Police said the two Near North District officers had taken the panhandler into custody about 4 p.m. after he had become combative, yet despite being handcuffed, the man was able to pull out a gun in the unmarked police car and shoot one officer in the back.

The officers scurried from the vehicle as it continued to roll down the street and fired their weapons, killing the panhandler, police said.

The unmarked police car, a Crown Victoria, came to rest partly on a sidewalk on Wells, butting against a light pole with the rear window shot out. Spent bullet shells were strewn on the street behind it.

A weapon used by the panhandler was found at the scene, police said. The man, whose identity has not been released by officials, had numerous arrests for petty offenses, according to a law-enforcement source.



The wounded officer, 44, a 16-year veteran, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He is expected to recover, police said. The other officer, 60, a 37-year-old veteran, was treated for minor cuts to one hand at Northwestern.


"This is a clear understanding of the uncertainty and the danger that the officers face every day," police Superintendent Jody Weis told reporters outside the hospital's emergency room. "There's probably nothing more routine than this type of investigation, and look what we have today — an officer has been shot. But he's going to be fine."


The Independent Police Review Authority, which investigates shootings involving Chicago police officers, was looking into Wednesday's incident, said its spokesman, Mark Smith.


Larry Lubell said he was sitting at the desk at Urban insurance when he heard loud popping sounds. He figured that a car must be backfiring but realized it was far more serious when numerous police cars suddenly converged on the area.

Lubell said he's never felt unsafe in the area, especially during the daytime.

"I see homeless people around here asking for a quarter, but no one seems to bother you if you give it to them," he said.

April Rohn, 35, a clerk at a shop near the shooting was shocked.

"Things like this don't happen around here," she said. But "it's a big city."

Death by Texting

You turn NASCAR on TV, it's exciting to watch, but you can't help be realize that danger is chasing those drivers at 200 miles per hour. A single moments distraction can end the life of even the most skilled racer. It's danger is recognised by all watching. Yet so often when any of us step behind the wheel, we commonly underestimate how a single lapse of attention, can also result in death and life-changing injuries.

Most of us feel naked leaving the house without our cell phones. We are talking, reading our email, and sending text messages from home, the trail, restaurants, and yes even from our cars.  The danger of Texting while driving, claimed it’s latest victim; this time a your girl. This case is particularly troublesome because it was her own father who’s texting led to her death. Jonathan Harp of Lima, pleaded guilty to attempted vehicular homicide in the accident that took the life of one of his children and left his
7 year old daughter in critical care.

AP Photo/Jim Cole

By his own admission, Mr. Harp was going 55 miles an hour while writing a text, the distraction resulted in him crashing into the back of a truck. If found guilty he may go to prison for a year; though, as a father myself, I can’t imagine any punishment greater than knowing your carelessness led to the death of your own child. I wonder if you are already “Living in Hell”, you care about being moved to a prison.


MAD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) has done a great job drawing attention to Drunk Driving. It is clear that driving while intoxicated is irresponsible, dangerous and illegal; it is time to recognize Texting while driving as an even greater distraction. There is a "Moral" component at work her. If you see a person siting in the park with a cellphone writing a text; we do not have contempt for them as we would if they were in that smae park drunk. We have to recornize that there is nothing wrong with useing our electronic devices, as long as it's not while opporating a 5,000 lbs machine down the raod. While Seven states and the District of Columbia have banned “Driving while texting,” it has failed to seriously limit people from continuing what statistics show is reckless behavior. A new survey found that 26% of drivers admit to Texting while driving. With a son a year away from driving, I find it additionally frightening that nearly 60% of drivers between ages 16 to 19 admitted on the survey to doing so. For those under 25, texting is the principle way they communicate; actually using a cell phone to TALK, is only done after several texts back and forth.

We need to raise awareness, before more parents need to bury their child.


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Cutting off funds for Planned Parenthood

The Middle-East is in turmoil as tens of thousands of people take to the streets. In Bahrain protests have been met with "Strong-Arm-tactics" leaving several dead which has only escalated the anti-government demonstrations. Violence was spreading at today's funeral processions in Bahrain, Libya and Yemen. Upheaval and uncertainty follows in the wake of revolts in Tunisia and Egypt. America is dependent on Oil, and we have troups fighting two wars from the reagion.

While America has stopped the horrific job losses of two years ago, With unemployment holding at 9 percent and millions out of work we are far from the "Healthy job market." Small business are struggling to stay open, while many big businesses are hording cash.

There is not a state that is not in a financial mess, many cutting back on critical services, at a time when they are desperately needed. Our cities are in debt, teacher layoffs are causing class sizes to spike. Health care costs are skyrocketing at more than twice the rate of inflation leaving more and more people without access to quality care.

Oh yea, the nation is going to run out of money and have to default on loans unless congress passes a new debt-ceiling.

So with all that on the table what did congress do today?

Rather than address any of the pressing issues listed above, they instead turned to the ideological topic of abortion. Yes, the House of Representatives voted 240-185 in favor of Rep. Mike Pence’s amendment cutting off funds for Planned Parenthood.

I understand the desire to "Throw Red-Meat" to the Tea Party; but with the government days away from shutting down, while our solders are in harms-way, why not focus on solving the very real problems that we face, rather than Abortion and National Public Radio?