Teen Surrenders, Family Blames Police In Fatal Shooting

[Queen Prawn]

Teen Surrenders, Family Blames Police In Fatal Shooting

 

CHICAGO -- A person of interest in the fatal West Side shooting Monday of 22-year-old Latasha Hassell turned himself in to police Wednesday, reportedly wanting a news agency to be present when it happened.

 

The boy's family asked NBC5 to be there when the 15-year-old boy turned himself in, NBC5's Rob Elgas reported. Investigators are looking into whether the boy pulled the trigger of the .45-caliber gun that killed the woman.

 

The new information comes on the heels of a wrongful death lawsuit, filed by Hassell's husband, claiming that a police officer fatally shot her.

 

Latasha Hassell was in the street on the 3200 block of West Walnut about 5:50 p.m. Monday when shots rang out, police said.

 

Hassell, of 311 S. Campbell Ave., was shot in the upper back area when she confronted someone who had been inside her home, according to a Harrison District police sergeant. The person she was confronting may have been attempting to burglarize the home, police said.

 

“Police were talking to two relatives -- a juvenile and an adult -- who were witnesses to the shooting,” police News Affairs Director Monique Bond said late Tuesday afternoon. “The suspect we are looking for is also a juvenile relative."

 

The allegations in Prince Brunt’s federal suit are in stark contrast to the police version of the shooting -- in which neither officer on the scene fired a shot and multiple witnesses identified a fleeing teen as the shooter.

 

The lawsuit claims two of those witnesses initially blamed a male officer for the shot that killed Hassell but changed their stories after they ‘‘spent the evening as punching bags’’ at the hands of police. That allegation, and the shooting scenario, were disputed by police officials.

 

Police believe Hassell was killed by her husband’s teenage cousin as he ran away from her and the officers. The alleged assailant was one of three of Brunt’s cousins who allegedly burglarized Brunt’s and Hassell’s home Monday. Hassell and Brunt confronted the three and called police.

 

NBC5's Kim Vatis reported Thursday that the victim's mother does not believe police shot her daughter.

 

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From a previous article, I thought ballistics came back and said there was no way it was an officer as it was a .45-caliber gun used to shoot the woman?

 

I feel terrible for her children, but I would like to know why is it (and does this happen in every major city in the US) that families are in such a hurry to blame police without proof?

[juddling]

 

I feel terrible for her children, but I would like to know why is it (and does this happen in every major city in the US) that families are in such a hurry to blame police without proof?

 

 

$$You$$ know...at time$ like thi$ i have$ also wondered$ about wh$y people are so quick$ to$ accu$e $ the police ?$$$? I $ Ju$t don't under$tand it

 

 

 

[Steff]

$$You$$ know...at time$ like thi$ i have$ also wondered$ about wh$y people are so quick$ to$ accu$e $ the police ?$$$? I $ Ju$t don't under$tand it

 

 

 

Sad. But true.

[Queen Prawn]

I am guessing it is for the money as well. I feel the cops that have to patrol those areas as they are between a rock and a hard place - my job is to help people but when I do I get sued (or at least accused of misconduct).

 

I realize not all cops are good ones, but this is one case where I do not even understand how the case could be filed when all the evidence points away from the police.