Bridgeview police fatally shoot man identified as Iraq war veteran, convicted of killing wife

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (WLS) -- A Bridgeview police officer fatally shot a man who police said had a gun and rear-ended the officer's vehicle Tuesday night.

The shooting occurred in a parking lot near a Pete's Fresh Market and a Walmart at 103rd Street and Harlem Avenue at about 7 p.m. Police were called to the Walmart for a shoplifting report and took a woman into custody, Bridgeview spokesman Ray Hanania said.

The woman's boyfriend, 32-year-old Joseph Jesk of Oak Lawn, verbally assaulted the officer and rear-ended the officer's patrol vehicle with a white van, Hanania said. When the officer got out, Jesk pulled out a gun that turned out to be a BB gun and the officer fired twice, hitting Jesk, Hanania said.

"It was very light and I looked behind me and there was Joe getting out of the car and I thought maybe he was just going to ask where they're taking me and the next thing I know the officer is firing at him," said Stacey Hargrave, Jesk's girlfriend.

Jesk was transported to Christ Hospital and later died. Jesk, an Iraq War veteran, was convicted in the murder of his wife in 2010 and was on probation at the time of the shooting Tuesday, Hanania said.

Cellphone video captured the aftermath of the police-involved shooting and the large police response.

"I work across the street, I hear two gunshots like, pow, pow, pow, right after each other," said witness Nidal Fakhoun. "I go outside, I see this cop car and then I see a sprinter van backed up against it and I see a guy on the floor unconscious."

The Bridgeview police officer was not harmed.

Bridgeview police and the Illinois State Police Public Integrity Task Force are investigating the shooting. No further details have been released.