June 07--CHICAGO -- A Chicago police officer shot and killed a man in Englewood, early Tuesday morning. Police say Flint Farmer pointed an object at officers. The object turned out to be a cell phone.
Just before 2 a.m., officers responded to a domestic battery in progress, involving the 29-year-old Farmer and the mother of his child. Police say Farmer tried to flee the scene, and officers ordered him to stop.
Here's part of the preliminary statement from police:
"... the offender turned towards the officers, pulls an object from his pocket and aggressively approaches the officers with the object in his hand. The officers ordered him to drop the object. He refused to comply to the officers demands."
An officer fearing for his safety, opened fire, killing Farmer at 62nd and Wolcott.
The object in his hand is believed to be a cell phone. No gun was found
"I wouldn't believe that he would pull a phone out or any object out of his pocket at the police. For what? If it's not a gun, if he's not trying to shoot you, what is he pulling anything out of his pocket for," said Terrell Lucas, Farmer's cousin.
Tony Brown witnessed the shooting. He claims two girls, who were sitting in a car, were injured and quickly taken away in an ambulance. But police say besides Farmer, no one else was hurt.
Farmer's family and neighborhood residents want answers.
"You don't care who you shoot. You don't care who you kill. We just tired of it," said Brown.
The Independent Police Review Authority is investigating.
