DuPage County Prosecutor: Police-Involved Shooting Justified
GLENDALE HEIGHTS, Ill. (AP) — A suburban Chicago prosecutor says a police officer was justified in shooting a man with schizophrenia who was holding knives.
DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin says Glendale Heights officer Krzysztof Padyasek shot four times, striking George Almeida Jr. once in the hip. The prosecutor's office says officers were responding to a domestic disturbance Dec. 29 and found Almeida "waving the knives wildly above his head."
Prosecutors say officers verbally ordered Almeida to drop the knives. Instead, prosecutors say Almeida advanced and was holding the knives pointing forward. Berlin says charges won't be filed because the officer acted lawfully to prevent death or harm.
Almeida faces a felony count of aggravated assault with a weapon on an officer. After the shooting Almeida's mother, Connie Almeida, said the situation was "blown out of proportion" by police and denied her son was armed.
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