A man was fatally shot Monday morning by an off-duty Chicago Police officer on Chicago's Northwest Side, police said.
The officer had "a verbal altercation with a subject that was known to him," Supt. Eddie Johnson told reporters.
The shooting happened at about 9:30 a.m. in the 2500 block of North Lowel in the city's Hermosa neighborhood, police said.
"The verbal altercation resulted in the officer discharging his weapon," Johnson said, "striking the subject several times, and the subject is now deceased."
The officer had been visiting an acquaintance in the area at the time of the shooting, police said.
The man was not armed, police said.
"The person who was shot did not have a weapon, that much we know," said police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. "The officer's weapon is the only weapon involved."
The man's identity was not immediately released by police or the medical examiner's office but family members identified him as 38-year-old Jose Nieves. He was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
Angelica Nieves said her brother was moving furniture from storage and putting it into his apartment. His family last saw him on Christmas, she said.
"I never thought I would see him in that way," Angelica Nieves said.
Johnson said the officer and the man knew each other from a confrontation a few weeks ago.
"There was already animosity towards my brother," said Nieves' sister Angelica Nieves. "My brother has called 911 prior because [the officer has] come out with a gun up to my brother."
Chicago police released a statement on the shooting Monday night, saying that an altercation between the officer and Nieves had "escalated."
"I have a lot more questions than I do answers at this time," Johnson said, "so I came out because I wanted to make sure the investigation was done properly. The chief of detectives is here to manage our part of the investigation. We have a parallel investigation going on right now with IPRA."
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An investigation remains ongoing with both the Chicago Police Department and the Independent Police Review Authority. The officer was placed on desk duty as of Monday evening, Guglielmi confirmed.
