The Civilian Office of Police Accountability has released 911 calls of a drunken gunfight that broke out last December involving off-duty officers, but the files do not include any calls from the officers themselves.
COPA did not respond to the scene because there was initially “no indication” an officer discharged their weapon.
Whether or not the officer fired a weapon later became unclear “due to the inconsistency of his statements and intoxication,” according to police reports.
At about 1:25 a.m. on Dec. 14, two off-duty officers, a woman, her boyfriend and his brother, 26, were leaving a party at Legends in Maywood.
The woman’s boyfriend drove the group in a Jeep Grand Cherokee to the 1000 block of South Mayfield Avenue to drop the brother off at his home, according to internal COPA documents obtained by the Sun-Times.
As the 26-year-old exited the vehicle, a silver-colored Chevy Malibu pulled up in the intersection behind the Jeep. A person wearing all black clothing standing near the trunk of the Malibu then fired shots in his direction, documents state.
The woman in the Jeep opened the front passenger door, leaned out of the vehicle and fired several times toward the intersection, according to the documents.
Two neighbors called 911 to report bullets shot through their windows.
“Bullets went through our living room,” one caller said. “Just one ended up hitting the wall but they were just like shooting everywhere.”
Ring camera footage from the block shows a person exiting an SUV as gunshots ring out seconds later. The person begins running down the block. The SUV then starts driving again and bright light can be seen from the front passenger door, along with the sound of more gunshots.
The 26-year-old man was struck in the arm and after initially running away, jumped back into the Jeep. He was taken to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, where he was listed in serious condition.
During their preliminary investigation, high-ranking CPD officers observed that the two off-duty cops appeared to be intoxicated, according to the documents. The Bureau of Internal Affairs responded and administered Breathalyzer tests.
While speaking with detectives, the woman told investigators that one of the officers had asked for her gun during the incident and that she had handed it to him, according to COPA. The officer did not mention this detail when he spoke with officers.
When confronted with that information the officer acknowledged that he “possibly” discharged the firearm, COPA states. The officer said that when the woman handed him the gun he performed a maneuver as if to clear an ammunition jam and “it possibly discharged.”
Police officials later informed COPA that one of the off-duty officers had opened fire, the oversight agency said.
The officer, who was hired in 2017, has been relieved of his policing powers as the investigation continues, according to COPA. The other officer is active and assigned to the 7th District.
Several fired casings were found in the back area of the Jeep.
About 1:40 a.m., officers from Oak Park responded to a call of a person shot at the hospital and watched a vehicle “flee the scene,” according to Oak Park police.
A vehicle matching its description and riddled with bullet holes was later stopped near Austin Boulevard and Madison Street.
The driver was asked to step out of the vehicle, and officers found a gun in his pocket and another under a seat. He had a valid license to carry the weapons publicly, Oak Park police said.
Chicago police officers “took over the investigation,” Oak Park police said.
Contributing: Mary Norkol, Tom Schuba and Emmanuel Camarillo