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Chicago Tribune
4 days ago
- Chicago Tribune
Slain Chicago police officer was ‘living the American dream,' prosecutors say as trial opens
On the day he was killed, prosecutors said, Chicago police Officer Andres Vásquez Lasso woke up early in the morning in the home he bought in the same district he worked in. He said goodbye to his wife, a flight attendant, who had a full day of flights ahead of her. Later that afternoon, Vásquez Lasso began his final shift, prosecutors said, during which he was shot and killed while responding to a domestic call on March 1, 2023. 'Andres Vásquez Lasso was living the American dream,' said Assistant State's Attorney Katie Siefert. 'Andres cared so much for the community he patrolled, he moved into the 8th District and bought his home there.' Attorneys on Tuesday delivered opening statements to the jury at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in front of a courtroom packed with police officers and family members. The jury was sworn in by Judge John Lyke Jr. after being empaneled on Monday. Steven Montano, 21, is charged with murder and other felonies in the attack, accused of fatally shooting the 32-year-old officer as children cowered under a slide at a nearby park. Montano's defense attorneys asked jurors to keep an open mind, telling them that Montano was only 18 at the time, in a relationship with a 37-year-old woman. They argued that the case does not equate to first degree murder, saying Montano had a 'most unfortunate reaction' to a stressful situation. 'Cars were barreling down on him,' said Assistant Public Defender Hussain Khan. 'Officers were running behind him.' Remembered by friends and family as a loyal friend and capable police officer, Vásquez Lasso, was responding to the call when he was shot and killed in the 5200 block of South Spaulding Avenue on the city's Southwest Side. He immigrated to the United States from Colombia when he was 18 years old and later enrolled in college and joined the Chicago Police Department. The domestic incident began, according to prosecutors, when Montano threatened to get his gun during an argument with his 37-year-old girlfriend. She left the residence through a side door and called 911. Montano had also grabbed her phone and tried to stop her from calling for help, prosecutors alleged. As police arrived, Montano jumped out of a window, prosecutors said, and was chased by Vásquez Lasso, who had arrived on scene. As the chase neared a playground, Montano turned toward the officer, prosecutors said, and both fired weapons. Vásquez Lasso hit Montano in the mouth area, and Montano shot the officer in the head, arm and leg as children and others took cover. The case went before the jury as the Chicago Police Department is still mourning the fatal shooting of another one of their own, Officer Krystal Rivera, who was killed by a fellow police officer on June 5, the first CPD officer to die of friendly fire in nearly 40 years. Vásquez Lasso was one of two police officers shot to death in 2023 in attacks considered to be on-duty. About two months after he was killed, Chicago police Officer Aréanah Preston was slain as she returned to her Avalon Park home from a late-night shift.
Chicago Tribune
5 days ago
- Chicago Tribune
Daywatch: CPD officers reporting use of force more often
Good morning, Chicago. The woman stood on the sidewalk outside her home and waited for the first officers to show up. Blood streamed down her face and shoulders. She had called 911 after her significant other stabbed her. When officers arrived at the home in the Back of the Yards in July 2022, she pointed to the open doorway. Standing about 10 feet from the threshold, a man kept his grip on a knife in his right hand. 'Shoot me,' the man barked at the officers, as he took small, deliberate steps forward. 'Please drop the knife,' an officer, also on the sidewalk, yelled back. 'I'm begging you. Drop the knife.' As the man's darkened silhouette continued forward, two red dots appeared: one on his chest, another on his thigh. 'Shoot me!' he demanded. A moment later, a Taser was fired. A direct hit, splitting the man's beltline. He fell backward, collapsing on the floor. An officer put down his Taser and put the man in handcuffs. One of the electrodes remained lodged in his shirt. It was the type of deadly force encounter that's routine for Chicago Police Department patrol officers in the city's rougher neighborhoods. While common — CPD officers are called to thousands of domestic disturbances every year — the incident and others like it serve as valuable training material for the city's Police Department in its post-Laquan McDonald era of reform. A new report from CPD shows a sizable year-over-year increase in reports of both use-of-force and firearm-pointing incidents by Chicago cops. The upticks come as the department continues its efforts to gather and analyze internal data in its march toward compliance with the city's federal consent decree. Read the full story from the Tribune's Sam Charles. Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including: why weather officials are extending an air quality alert for the Chicago area, how State Farm is defending a hefty 27.2% hike and the hobby former Bulls star Derrick Rose may be taking up in his retirement. Today's eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History The Supreme Court cleared the way yesterday for the Trump administration to continue unwinding the Education Department, allowing it to move ahead with mass layoffs and a plan to outsource the department's operations to other agencies. Now, President Donald Trump and his education secretary, Linda McMahon, are free to execute the layoffs and break up the department's work among other federal agencies. An air quality alert issued yesterday afternoon for the Chicago area will be in effect through tonight, officials said. The alert, issued by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, applies to Cook County and surrounding McHenry, Lake, Kendall, Kane, DuPage, Grundy and Will counties, according to the National Weather Service. Former Commonwealth Edison lobbyist John Hooker was sentenced yesterday to a year and a half in prison for his role in an elaborate scheme to funnel $1.3 million to associates of then-House Speaker Michael Madigan in exchange for the powerful Democrat's help with the utility's legislative agenda in Springfield. Challenged by everyone from consumer groups to Gov. JB Pritzker over its imminent 27.2% homeowners insurance rate increase in Illinois, State Farm faces the question: Will it seek to defend its widely criticized decision? The answer: hail yes. Residential solar is particularly hard hit by President Trump's 'big, beautiful' tax bill. But the president's far-reaching budget bill, signed July 4, has dealt a mighty blow to Illinois' clean energy overall, ending a tax credit of up to $7,500 for electric vehicle buyers, reducing access to tax credits for battery and solar panel manufacturers, slowing the construction of wind and solar farms and leaving $14 billion of announced clean energy investment statewide at higher risk for cancelation or downsizing. Sesame Workshop was trying to regain full control over its Elmo account on the X platform after a hacker gained access and posted a string of racist and antisemitic messages. Late changes to a court document scuttled a planned hearing yesterday for convicted murderer Marni Yang, who is seeking to have her case overturned in the shooting death of the pregnant girlfriend of a former Chicago Bears player Shaun Gayle. Even after investing heavily in veteran offensive linemen in March, the Chicago Bears weren't done bolstering the protection in front of quarterback Caleb Williams. The Bears found additional help in the draft when they selected Luke Newman out of Michigan State with a sixth-round pick (No. 195). Derrick Rose is accustomed to standing shoulder to shoulder with greatness. But Sunday was a little different. The former NBA MVP for the Chicago Bulls sat on a stage alongside chess grandmaster and five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen, surveying an unplayed board. Newspaper horoscopes are read by more people than you might imagine, millions of you, writes Rick Kogan. Even as the number of newspapers has diminished, horoscopes remain a popular offering, much like such non-news items as games, crosswords and comics.
Chicago Tribune
5 days ago
- Chicago Tribune
CPD officers reporting use of force more often, as video becomes important training tool
The woman stood on the sidewalk outside her home and waited for the first officers to show up. Blood streamed down her face and shoulders. She had called 911 after her significant other stabbed her. When officers arrived at the home in the Back of the Yards in July 2022, she pointed to the open doorway. Standing about 10 feet from the threshold, a man kept his grip on a knife in his right hand. 'Shoot me,' the man barked at the officers, as he took small, deliberate steps forward. 'Please drop the knife,' an officer, also on the sidewalk, yelled back. 'I'm begging you. Drop the knife.' As the man's darkened silhouette continued forward, two red dots appeared: one on his chest, another on his thigh. 'Shoot me!' he demanded. A moment later, a Taser was fired. A direct hit, splitting the man's beltline. He fell backward, collapsing on the floor. An officer put down his Taser and put the man in handcuffs. One of the electrodes remained lodged in his shirt. It was the type of deadly force encounter that's routine for Chicago Police Department patrol officers in the city's rougher neighborhoods. While common — CPD officers are called to thousands of domestic disturbances every year — the incident and others like it serve as valuable training material for the city's Police Department in its post-Laquan McDonald era of reform. A new report from CPD shows a sizable year-over-year increase in reports of both use-of-force and firearm-pointing incidents by Chicago cops. The upticks come as the department continues its efforts to gather and analyze internal data in its march toward compliance with the city's federal consent decree. After a use-of-force incident, CPD officers are required to fill out and submit a Tactical Response Report, or TRR. Those reports are used to detail the exact circumstances an officer faced when force was used: Was a suspect armed? Were other officers or civilians facing a threat? What were the weather and lighting conditions at the scene? The CPD Tactical Review and Evaluation Division, or TRED, last year recorded 6,413 TRRs submitted by officers. That was a nearly 30% increase from 2023, when officers submitted 4,960 such reports. In 2024, TRED recorded 5,204 instances of a CPD officer pointing their gun at someone, a 13% increase from 2023, when 4,513 such notifications were made. Data from CPD's Use of Force Dashboard shows officers are indeed using force more often than in recent years past, but CPD leaders are quick to credit the department's training and internal messaging for the sizable increase. It means more officers are following protocols to report such exchanges. 'The seeds were planted years ago, and now we're seeing the fruits of that labor,' CPD Deputy Chief Ralph Cruz, of the department's Office of Constitutional Policing and Reform, told the Tribune earlier this month. 'It's like being married; you're always working at it,' he added. The Police Department has 49 officers assigned to TRED, based in CPD's Area 1 at 51st and Wentworth Avenue, including 10 sergeants. In addition to TRRs and firearm-pointing incidents, TRED also reviewed reports that stemmed from officer foot pursuits. While TRED can make recommendations after its reviews of body-worn camera footage and submitted reports, district-level supervisors are the ones who ultimately hold officer debriefings. TRED analyzed 17,960 reports that were generated last year following an officer's debriefing with a supervisor, with body-worn camera activation the most common debriefing topic. Officer training and the department's data collection practices have been sticking points in the city's consent decree since it was entered by a federal judge in early 2019. Body-worn cameras have become ubiquitous in CPD's Bureau of Patrol over the last decade or so, ushering in a new era, ostensibly, of transparency and accountability. Timely activation of body-worn cameras has remained a challenge, though — one acknowledged in the recent report from TRED. 'Despite this, BWC compliance showed a downward trend in debriefing points throughout 2024, indicating positive growth,' the report said. 'TRED personnel continues to conduct in-person training of Department members with four or more BWC debriefings within a 12-month period from the date of the incident. This in-service training highlights Illinois law, Department directives, Department streaming video, and overall proper usage of the body-worn camera.' The incident debriefings are not punitive, but instead corrective, CPD officials say. Those one-on-one meetings can be held within days, if not hours, of an incident taking place. Also, if body-worn cameras capture an incident of suspected misconduct, CPD supervisors will make referrals to the department's Bureau of Internal Affairs or the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. For example, the officer's response to the incident in the Back of the Yards was good, but CPD supervisors noticed room for improvement. The officer who fired his Taser was later subject to additional training because, CPD officials said, he placed the weapon on the ground within reach of civilians, potentially endangering himself and other officers. By the end of 2025, all incidents of firearm pointing will be reviewed by the captain assigned to each of CPD's 22 patrol districts. CPD leaders believe that any corrective measures issued by a captain are more likely to take hold because those supervisors — typically the second-highest ranking officer in a district — can better understand an officer's day-to-day stresses and challenges. Meanwhile, data also shows CPD supervisors more frequently turning to internal controls to correct misconduct behavior by the city's officers while the future of CPD's larger discipline apparatus remains hazy.
Chicago Tribune
6 days ago
- Chicago Tribune
Alleged killer of CPD Officer Andres Vásquez Lasso set for trial
As a domestic confrontation spilled out onto a Southwest Side sidewalk on March 1, 2023, emergency dispatchers did what they do every day and assigned officers to hustle to the scene. Among those who responded was 32-year-old Chicago police Officer Andres Vásquez Lasso. But in a reminder of how dangerous domestic calls can be for officers, the situation escalated into more violence and Vásquez Lasso was shot and killed, prosecutors said, while children at a nearby playground took cover under a slide. More than two years later, the officer's accused killer is scheduled to stand trial, with jury selection set to begin Monday at the Leighton Criminal Court Building. Barring any last-minute delays, Steven Montano, 21, will face a jury on charges of murder and other felonies in the attack in the 5200 block of South Spaulding Avenue. The case goes to trial as the Chicago Police Department is still mourning and grappling with the fatal shooting of Officer Krystal Rivera by a fellow police officer on June 5, the first CPD officer to die of friendly fire in nearly 40 years. The case is also the first involving a slain officer to go to a jury since one of Officer Ella French's killers was convicted at trial last year. Vásquez Lasso was remembered by friends and family at his funeral as a loyal friend and confidant. He immigrated to the United States from Colombia when he was 18 years old and later enrolled in college and joined the Chicago Police Department. '(He) gave up his life serving what he loved most: the police,' the Rev. Andrés Beltrán, a family friend, said in Spanish during the homily at his funeral. 'And he leaves us, and we say goodbye to him, not only as a Colombian but as a friend, as a colleague, as a family man.' During his final act as a police officer, prosecutors said, Vásquez Lasso backed up his fellow officers in aiding Montano's 37-year-old girlfriend who left the residence through a side door and called 911 after Montano, during an argument, said he would get his gun. Montano also grabbed her phone and tried to stop her from calling for help, prosecutors alleged during a 2023 hearing. When officers arrived, they saw Montano jump out of a window and run away with what appeared to be a gun, prosecutors said. As Montano ran past Sawyer Elementary School, according to prosecutors, he was spotted and pursued by Vásquez Lasso. Montano turned toward the officer, prosecutors said, and both fired weapons. Vásquez Lasso hit Montano in the mouth area, and Montano shot the officer in the head, arm and leg as children and others in a nearby playground took cover. The shooting was captured on Vásquez Lasso's body camera, prosecutors have said. That means jurors will likely repeatedly see the shooting occur, which has become a hallmark of trials involving police shootings. CPD began testing body-worn cameras for patrol officers in 2015 and later expanded their use as part of broad reform efforts spurred by the killing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald by CPD Officer Jason Van Dyke in 2014. By the end of 2017, body cameras — a tool for both accountability and investigation — were in use for all Chicago Police Department patrol officers, which allows jurors and courtroom observers to watch, to some extent, a police shooting unfold. The SAFE-T Act further broadened body-camera use across Illinois, requiring that all police officers in the state be outfitted with cameras by 2025. Vásquez Lasso was one of two police officers shot to death in 2023 in attacks considered to be on-duty. About two months after he was killed, Chicago police Officer Aréanah Preston was slain as she returned to her Avalon Park home from a late-night shift. In a twist of fate, one of Vásquez Lasso's friends, Officer Luis Huesca, was shot and killed about a year later while heading home from his shift early in the morning. In a remembrance video for his friend, Huesca praised Vásquez Lasso — before he himself was killed — as 'one of those guys that actually deserved this star.'
Hindustan Times
12-07-2025
- Hindustan Times
Chattanooga shooting: What is happening at Tyner Community Center amid heavy police presence
A shooting at the Tyner Community Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee, prompted a heavy police presence on Saturday, with multiple injuries reported. Local 3 News reported that gunfire erupted at the center just after 3:00 PM local time. The Chattanooga Police Department (CPD) responded to the incident at 6900 Ty Hi Drive. Authorities are yet to issue an official statement. A shooting in Chattanooga left multiple people injured on Saturday(Unsplash) Local 3 News further added that multiple people were injured and transported to a local hospital, with no fatalities confirmed as of now. The heavy police presence included CPD officers securing the area and processing the crime scene. No specific information on the number of victims, their conditions, or suspects has been released, and the investigation remains ongoing. Read More: Pasadena, Texas shooting: Witnesses report active shooter near Bubba's 33 Tyner Community Center, a red-brick facility surrounded by trees, serves as a hub for community events, rentals, and programs. Chattanooga has faced gun violence issues, including a 2022 mass shooting on McCallie Avenue (3 dead, 14 injured) and a 2024 shooting near ChattTown Skate Park. A March 2025 shooting on Youngstown Road left a 44-year-old man dead, and a June 2025 homicide on Lindsay Avenue led to an arrest. Read More: Who is Harjeet Singh Laddi? Khalistani terrorist behind firing at Kapil Sharma's cafe in Canada Under Chief John Chambers, appointed in 2024, the CPD has implemented programs like the Crime Gun Intelligence Center and added public safety cameras, though past camera malfunctions have drawn criticism.
