Teen Shot, Killed by Police Officer on Chicago's Southwest Side

Officers said boy, 17, lunged at officers with a knife after they responded to a call about a person breaking into cars

A Chicago police officer shot and killed a 17-year-old boy armed with a knife on the city's Southwest Side Archer Heights neighborhood late Monday, officials said.

Chicago Lawn District officers received a call at about 9:45 p.m. about a person breaking into cars in the 4100 block of South Karlov Avenue, according to a statement from the Chicago Police Department.

Responding officers found a 17-year-old boy "with a strange gaze about him" who was carrying a knife and wouldn’t drop it when police ordered him to do so, Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Pat Camden said.

The teen used the knife to puncture the front passenger tire of a police squad car and damaged its front windshield before running away, police said.

Other officers used a squad car to try and box the boy in against a fence near West 41st Street and South Pulaski Road, Camden said. An officer shot him in the chest when the teen didn't drop the knife and continued to walk toward officers, police said.

The teen was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital where he was pronounced dead, officials said. A spokesperson with The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed a fatality at that location but no other details were released by 5:30 a.m. Tuesdsay.

No officers were injured, and a knife was recovered at the scene, officials said.

The Independent Police Review Authority was investigating.

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