Aldermen declined Monday to pay a woman $125,000 to settle the lawsuit she filed after Chicago police officers fatally shot her son in her home in 2013 when she called for help because he was threatening her with a knife, the Chicago Tribune reported. The City Council Finance Committee deadlocked 13-13 on the proposed settlement for Lenora Bonds, meaning the deal will not head to the full City Council this week.
Bonds had called 911 to report her son, Terrence Harris, was threatening her with two kitchen knives, reported ABC7. Among the first officers to respond to the scene, a sergeant who had crisis intervention training, or CIT, was stabbed in the face, according to deputy corporation counsel Victoria Benson. Three more officers - none had CIT training - arrived in response to the stabbing.
By then, Harris was in the basement, holding two knives. He refused commands to drop the weapons, and had turned on the gas, apparently trying to blow up the house, Benson said.
When Harris "suddenly lunged in the direction of two of the officers," all three fired. Harris was struck by 29 of their 32 shots, ABC7 reported.
