A man apparently trying to break into the home of a police officer was shot and killed by the officer in the Chatham neighborhood Monday night, police said.
The shooting happened about 6:40 p.m., authorities said. The officer, who was off-duty, was upstairs in the apartment building in the 7500 block of South Champlain Avenue when he heard loud noises coming from the first floor of the building, said Calumet Area Deputy Chief Dana Alexander, speaking at the scene.
The officer went downstairs to the rear door of the building, which police said and property records show the officer owns. When the officer opened it he saw a man with a tire iron standing on the rear porch, Alexander said. The officer drew his gun, identified himself and told the man to put the tire iron down, but instead the man swung it at the officer.
The officer fired several shots at the man, hitting him, Alexander said.
That man was identified this morning by the Cook County medical examiner's office of Darryl Ellis, 44, whose address was unknown.
David Hatwood, a neighbor said he was in his home a few doors away when he heard five or six gunshots. He ran to the corner and saw a man lying on the ground, moaning, and another man with a gun in hand standing on the porch step over him.
"I said, 'What happened, what happened?' " Hatwood recalled.
The man with the gun said: "That guy tried to break into my house."
Nearby, a woman identifying herself as the dead man's mother stood by with several relatives. Sharon Loston said her son lived in the area and did odd jobs for the shop owners on 75th Street.
Loston, who now lives in Riverdale, used to live in the area and said neighbors called her when the shooting happened. She rushed to the scene.
"He didn't deserve to die like a dog in an alley," she said of her son, tearfully.
The Independent Police Review Authority is investigating the incident.
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