Chicago cops open fire unprovoked on vehicle full of kids, wounding two

Saturday, January 18, 2014 by: J. D. Heyes
Tags: police shooting, wounded children, Chicago

(NaturalNews) Two mothers are claiming in court that Chicago police officers opened fire "without provocation, cause or justification of anything kind" on a car full of kids, wounding two of them, according to published reports.

Courthouse News Service said that Catherine Waller and Abena Andoh filed suit against the city of Chicago, the police department and, specifically, Officers J.E. Morlock and K.W. Flaherty and others, on behalf of Waller's son (listed as "D.B." in the suit) and Andol's son (listed as "D.H.").

According to the suit, the mothers are claiming that Morlock and Flaherty stopped a vehicle containing their children along with "several other minors" three days before Christmas last year, on the city's South Side. Two of the passengers fled the vehicle.

"Seconds later, one or more of the defendant officers opened fire on the remaining occupants of the vehicle, which included D.B and D.H.," according to the complaint.

"Defendant officers shot more than a dozen rounds into the vehicle filled with minors without provocation, cause or justification of any kind. That is, no weapon was brandished nor was there any act of violence or aggression directed at or toward defendant officers," the complaint says.

"D.B. was struck by several bullets. He suffered one wound to the shoulder and two others that grazed his forehead and cheek. D.H. was also hit by the barrage of bullets, suffering one wound to his left hip and one to his right heel," said the suit.

"After littering the vehicle with bullets, defendant officers removed D.B. and D.H. from the car and handcuffed them," it says.

The pair of moms say the police transported their children to a nearby hospital for treatment, but then later removed them from the hospital without proper medical authorization and subsequently transported them to a police station for questioning - despite being in "extreme anguish" from the gunshot wounds, the complaint says.

"[D]uring said interviews, D.B.'s gunshot wound to his shoulder began to bleed so profusely that he had to be taken back to Christ Hospital for additional medical treatment," according to the lawsuit.

The families are seeking punitive damages for excessive use of force by the officers, conspiracy, civil rights violations, constitutional violations, failure to intervene, failure to provide medical care, assault and battery and other charges.

Source:

http://www.courthousenews.com