SOUTH SHORE — A man was critically wounded by a Chicago cop who shot him following a chase in South Shore Monday morning, according to authorities and union officials.
The 21-year-old man, identified by family as Terrance Etheredge, was shot in the 1500 block of East 77th Street just before 11 a.m., police said. An officer was involved in the shooting, said Larry Merritt of the Independent Police Review Authority.
According to Fraternal Order of Police union head Pat Camden, plainclothes cops saw a man near the intersection of of East 75th Street and South Stony Island Avenue with what appeared to be a gun in his the pocket of his pants.
The officers chased the man "in and out of alleys" on foot and at some point the man pulled out a gun and held it in his hand, Camden said.
Officers found the man "crouched down in the gangway" within the 1500 block of East 77th Street, Camden said.
Cops told the man to drop the gun, and when he didn't, they fired, hitting him in the upper chest, according to Camden said. The man was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition, according to the Chicago Fire Department.
Etheredge had attended South Shore high school, and worked at Staples, as did his father, according to his grandfather, Arthur O'Bryant.
"When he walked out of here, he said he was going to Staples," O'Bryant said of his grandson, who lives with him. "He wasn't no gangbanger or nothing," O'Bryant added. "He ain't got no reason to run from the cops."
A .380 semiautomatic handgun was recovered from the injured man but he did not get off a shot, Camden saidot.
Neighbor Rayshawn Balkcom said he was on his way back from a friend's house down the street when he saw a man in a red jacket run out of his back yard and thought "he was going to try to break into my house."
As cops arrived, the man turned around and dashed back into his yard. Officers yelled to Balkcom to get out of the way as they ran after the man, he said.
"I ran to the corner [of 77th Street and Blackstone] to get out of the [way]," said Balkcom.
He couldn't see what happened next, but heard four or five shots.
"I didn't know what was going on," Balkcom said. "I didn't know if it was a shoot-out or what. I was just hoping one of the bullets didn't fly out and hit me."
The Independent Police Review Authority said it was investigating the incident, Merritt said, and Chicago Police directed inquiries to the authority.
Cops could not immediately confirm the union version of events or the name of the man who had been shot because charges had not been filed.
