Man Likely Shot By Police On Northwest Side, But Believed To Have Died Of Self-Inflicted Gunshot
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An officer fired shots at a man on the Northwest Side Thursday afternoon and is believed to have struck him, but police believe the man actually died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Just before 12:30 p.m., Grand Central District officers pulled over a vehicle, police said. The exact location of where the vehicle was pulled over was not clear. Police initially said Wellington and Austin avenues, but the crime scenes were actually nearly a mile south of that site, at McVicker and Grand avenues and about a block away at Austin and Belden avenues.
It also was not clear why police pulled over the car.
Someone who appeared to be armed got out of the car, and police began chasing him on foot, police said.
Deputy Chief of Patrol Ernest Cato III said there were children in the car with the man when he was pulled over, and they were taken to an area hospital. They were not injured.
Officers saw the man did have a handgun, which prompted a confrontation, police said. A Chicago Police officer fired shots, but police said the man also shot himself and died.
He was identified as Mariano Ocon Jr., 31, of Melrose Park.
Police detectives and the Cook County Medical Examiner's office determined that Ocon did suffer a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but also a wound to his upper body. The source of that wound was likely a police bullet, police said.
After Cato's remarks, Juan Ocon – who said he was Mariano Ocon Jr.'s brother – took issue with police and said it was unsafe to pursue them man with children in the car, "even if he was armed or not."
Juan Ocon said of the Grand Central District police, "These people are going to cover it up with a lot of f***ing whipped cream on it."
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability also launched an investigation.
The officer or officers involved in the shooting will be placed on routine desk duty for 30 days pending the COPA investigation.
