Father of teen wounded along with Chicago police officer in struggle with gun speaks out
CHICAGO (WLS) -- The father of a teen wounded along with a Chicago police officer is speaking out.
That officer is still recovering here at the hospital, but is expected to be OK..
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The suspect's father, Scott Gracey, said his son did not shoot at police and still has many questions.
"I woke up to actually her banging on my door, saying that your son's been shot. And it scared the... out of me," Gracey said.
Gracey is still shocked at what unfolded. He said his 16-year-old son Marcus Gracey wrapped up home school for the day at noon.
Their neighbor, Barbara Langston, was sitting on her porch when she said she asked Marcus about his schoolwork before he left to meet up with friends at the park.
"'Go get your grades. I want to see them first,'" witness Barbara Langston said. "He said 'Wait till I come back and I'll bring them to you' and I said 'OK.' He walked down the street, and next thing I know, they had him on the ground."
The teen was one block from his home in the 5600-block of South Shields Avenue. His father said when officers from the 7th District made, what they describe, as an investigatory stop.
Police said there was a struggle over a gun in the boy's waistband and a single shot was fired from the teen's weapon.
"He was walking with a pistol," Gracey said. "I don't know why he was, and as a father, I will take care of that because I don't allow that. But he was walking with the pistol and police grabbed it out of his waistband and it went off."
"The weapon inadvertently discharged, striking the individual in the groin area," Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling said. "That same bullet is believed to have also struck the officer in the leg."
The wounded officer, who was hired by CPD in 2018, was rushed to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition.
The injured teen was taken to Stroger Hospital, also in good condition.
Gracey said this should not have happened and believes his son had no intention of shooting an officer.
"Yeah, he had a gun and stuff and he should go to jail for that," Gracey said. "I get that. But should he be shot? I don't think so."
"When we look at people who are armed with weapons, every one of those encounters has the potential to end with deadly force," Snelling said.
Gracey said he has yet to see his son, who underwent surgery yesterday at Stroger Hospital.
Meanwhile, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability is investigating the shooting.
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