May 9, 2009 9:38 pm US/Central
Police Shoot Woman Outside Gold Coast Store
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
A police officer opened fire on a woman accused of a crime near the Magnificent Mile Saturday and stunned shoppers and bystanders watched the whole thing happen.
Police say the woman was suspected of trying to use a stolen credit card. When officers tried to catch her -- police say a struggle started -- and she was shot.
The Independent Police Review Authority is now investigating.
CBS 2's Pamela Jones reports.
"I saw the car screech…you know move real quickly -- burn rubber on an angle trying to move. And the police officers were clearly trying to prevent the car from moving," said witness Dori Wilson.
An officer approached the car and police say a struggle started.
"I heard something that sounded like a firecracker. And remember, the doors of the car were open the whole time. And I saw a female fall out of the passenger's side," Wilson said.
Witnesses say that woman had jumped into the driver's seat to try to leave the scene – she was shot in the abdomen.
"I saw her bleeding. She was dressed in grey pants and a white top and sort of was in a fetal position for awhile, and then she sort of laid back and then she did make a couple of attempts to get up," Wilson said.
The woman is in critical condition after surgery Saturday night at Northwestern Hospital after allegedly attempting to scam the Gold Coast Louis Vuitton clothing store on Walton and Michigan Avenue.
Police also say two officers are in the hospital recovering from minor injuries received in the scuffle.
Witnesses say the incident was quite a different scene than they're used to on the Mag Mile.
"It had just happened. The cops all converged on the area and the lady was laying there and they were holding things to her side -- it was bleeding quite a lot of blood," said witness Andrea Cole.
Police responded at 12:05 p.m. to a call of a "deceptive practice" in the 900 block of North Michigan Avenue, police News Affairs said in a Saturday afternoon statement.
Sources say the lady was trying to use a fraudulent credit card. She walked from the store to a black Monte Carlo where a Black male was waiting for her. The woman even tried to elude police by sliding out of her jacket.
A witness that spoke to CBS 2 off camera described what happened next: "The getaway driver panicked and run off down the street. Then the lady in question jumped into the driver's seat and tried to drive away. A police man was chasing her and said 'wind down the window, otherwise I'll shoot you' and he ended up shooting her once."
Local hotel worker Lucian Mursin, 34, witnessed the incident and said the officer told the woman seven or eight times to stop the car.
Police News Affairs Director Roderick Drew said employees of the Louis Vuitton store at 919 N. Michigan Ave. recognized the man and woman as possible "offenders" and contacted police. The two fled when they saw police approaching.
The Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) spokesman Mark Payne said they are investigating the incident. IPRA will be looking at whether the woman tried to take the officer's gun and whether mace was used in the incident. Witnesses say someone sprayed mace during the confusion in the car and that a can of mace was found at the scene. So the question is who sprayed that mace? A police officer, or possible the woman in the car.
No weapons have been found "yet," Payne said.
The woman and man, who was apprehended about a block from the incident, are in police custody, but no charges have been filed as of 4 p.m.
Suzanne Le Mignot and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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