A sister of a man shot to death by Chicago police officers last year in a Prairie District park challenged officers’ version of events, saying an officer who was wounded in what police described as an exchange of gunfire actually shot himself.
Arlena Love filed a wrongful death suit Monday against the city of Chicago and three police officers, saying they overreacted and used excessive force when they shot and killed her brother, Derek Love, 50, on July 21, 2016, in Battle of Fort Dearborn Park. Arlena Love is administrator of her brother’s estate.
Around 8 p.m. that evening, bicycle officers responded to a report of a person “acting erratically” at the park, 1801 S. Calumet Ave. Soon after, they found Derek Love, who was on his cellphone at the time.
The police narrative and the account given in the lawsuit differ on what happened next. The officers named in the suite could not immediately be reached for comment, and Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi declined to comment on pending litigation.
Police said in the day after the shooting that Love pulled a gun out of his backpack and began firing, hitting a 17-year veteran officer in the leg. The day of the shooting, police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told reporters the wounded officer was able to apply a tourniquet to his leg with the help of his partner, probably saving his life.
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