Newly released video of a fatal Chicago police shooting shows two officers being approached by a man holding a knife during a domestic call at an apartment inside a senior-living residence last month in Little Village.
Officers were responding to a 911 call of a woman who said she was being attacked by her boyfriend. She told dispatchers that he had a knife and screwdriver, according to a recording.
Body-worn camera footage released Tuesday shows the Jan. 3 encounter with the man, Timothy Glaze, 57, outside a sixth-floor apartment at the Albany Terrace Apartments, 3030 W. 21st Place.
In the footage, an officer is seen knocking on an apartment door, which opens as he knocks. As the door opens he calls out, “Chicago police.”
Seconds later, a man identified as Glaze, walks around a corner inside the apartment, responding, “Yeah?”
“What’s going on?,” an officer asked.
“Nothing,” Glaze replied as he pulls a knife from behind his back.
Two officers back away from the front door as Glaze emerges and raises the knife.
Both officers then open fire, striking Glaze several times.
Glaze drops to the hallway floor and officers are seen calling “10-1, shots fired,” on their radio.
Glaze was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Chicago police said.
A report from the Civilian Office of Police Accountability indicated four officers responded to the call, but only two fired their weapons. A knife was found at the scene.
Shortly after the release of the video, Glaze’s family released a statement demanding justice.
“We are heartbroken, devastated, and outraged by the tragic and unnecessary loss of our beloved Timothy Glaze,” the family said in a statement. “Timothy was a son, a brother, a friend, and a human being who deserved compassion and care, especially in his moment of mental distress. Instead, he was met with violence and brutality that took his life in the most horrific way imaginable. Timothy was in crisis when 911 was called, seeking help. We trusted that the police would respond with empathy, de-escalation, and the proper training to handle someone in mental duress. Instead, Timothy was shot 20 times. This is not protection. This is not service. This is a failure of the system that is supposed to keep us safe.
“Timothy’s life mattered, and we will not rest until there is meaningful change to ensure that no one else suffers as he did.” the family added.
Glaze’s girlfriend, Charlotta Pritchett, told the Sun-Times last month that he was experiencing a mental breakdown when she called 911.
Pritchett had an order of protection against Glaze that was in effect at the time of his death. They had been in a rocky relationship marked by highs and lows since 2018.
On the day of the shooting, Glaze, who had three types of cancer, was saying things that didn’t make sense. Prichett worried the cancer had spread to his brain and was affecting his behavior, so she called for help.
““He wasn’t trying to hurt me,” Pritchett said. “I never broke a nail. He never touched me, but his demeanor worried me.”
Glaze’s criminal history includes several arrests over the last two decades for domestic battery, among other charges, though most of the counts were later dropped. He was last convicted in 2014 of trespassing at a North Side Jewel-Osco and sentenced to one day in prison, according to court records. Before that, he was convicted in 2006 of domestic battery and sentenced to 100 days.