Chicago cops shoot man mistaking him for his murder suspect brother after he pulled out a gun
Chicago police have fatally shot the wrong man after they reportedly confused him for his brother, who is a murder suspect. Law enforcement authorities were attempting to arrest the man and gunned him down mistaking 21-year-old Curtis Stagger for his brother.
Stagger was fatally shot by the police in a Chicago driveway at around 1.45 pm on Tuesday, May 28, while they were trying to execute an arrest warrant for his brother. In a press conference, authorities shared that the Chicago PD's fugitive apprehension unit had tried to arrest Stagger while he was sitting in his car when he allegedly pulled out a handgun, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The police then opened fire on Stagger and killed him. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. A picture of the semi-automatic handgun that Stagger had allegedly pulled out was tweeted by a police spokesperson after the shooting had taken place. It was not until that evening when Stagger was fingerprinted that authorities realized that he was the brother of the murder suspect they were after.
Before the formal identification had taken place, authorities had believed that Stagger was the murder suspect they had an arrest warrant for. The police are now trying to determine whether Stagger had actually fired at the officers before he was shot as it was initially reported that Stagger did open fire. The officers who were involved in the shooting mishap have not yet been identified and have been placed on mandatory 30-day desk duty.
It is reported that Stagger was staying a block away from where he was killed in his uncle's driveway. A woman who lived close by to the shooting shared with CBS 2 that the officers who had initially tried to arrest Stagger were in unmarked cars and were wearing plain clothes. She also thought she heard someone say "stop shooting at me" and they kept saying "Chicago PD".
Stagger's brother, the murder suspect, is wanted in connection with the death of 15-year-old Jaylin Ellzey on May 14. Ellzey was killed in a drive-by shooting at around 2.15 pm while he was standing on the street with a 23-year-old woman who suffered a gunshot wound in the chest. While another suspect has been taken into custody for the murder, the police have not yet revealed what role they believe Stagger's brother played in the shooting.
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