Free Republic

A Chicago police officer who fatally shot a college student and his 55-year-old neighbor has filed a lawsuit against the teenager’s estate that blames the mentally ill 19-year-old for causing the officer “extreme emotional trauma.” Officer Robert Rialmo’s lawsuit was filed Friday and offers the first public account of the moments before Rialmo shot and killed Quintonio LeGrier on Dec. 26. The suit claims that Rialmo, who was arriving at the scene of a domestic disturbance with another officer, opened fire after the teenager twice swung a bat at the officer’s head and then raised the weapon a third time,...

This is one of the more unusual (and disturbing) news items to pop up over the weekend. You probably recall the story of 19 year old Chicago resident Quintonio LeGrier, who was shot and killed by officer Robert Rialmo during a domestic disturbance call. LeGrier, who may have suffered from mental illness, came out of the residence with a baseball bat, ignored multiple orders to stand down and was shot. Unfortunately, one of the rounds fired by Rialmo was a "through and through" shot which passed through LeGrier and went on to strike and kill Bettie Jones, a neighbor. The...