THE LOOP — The father of Quintonio LeGrier, shot and killed last weekend by Chicago Police, has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city.
Antonio LeGrier charged in the suit, filed Monday in Cook County Circuit Court, that his 19-year-old son "never had possession or control of a weapon" when police arrived at the site of the shooting in the 4700 block of West Erie Street early Saturday morning.
Quintonio, whom the suit identified as a Northern Illinois University engineering student, "never did anything that suggested that he was armed with a weapon" and "never posed a danger or threat of harm to any Chicago Police officer," the suit charged. Thus his death had "no probable cause," and "the use of force was excessive and unreasonable."
According to a police report, officers were called to the scene when LeGrier called saying his son was swinging a baseball bat in an upstairs apartment early Saturday morning. Bettie Jones, 55, was "accidentally and tragically" shot and killed answering the door, police said.
The LeGrier family later suggested she was shot through the door.
LeGrier's suit charged that his son "did not at any point threaten or in any way endanger the lives of any law enforcement officer or civilian," adding, "The police officer that shot the decedent did not do anything to try to provide [him] with medical care."
The suit also charges that the younger LeGrier "did not immediately die from the gunshot wounds," but that his father was immediately forced to go to a station to make a statement, "separating him from his dying son and family."
The suit charged wrongful death, with damages in excess of $50,000, and also false arrest.
A Law Department spokesman said city attorneys "have not yet reviewed the suit," so he couldn't comment on it.
The incident prompted Mayor Rahm Emanuel to call for additional police training, and curtail a Cuban vacation.
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