Man files lawsuit in police-involved shooting at Mount Greenwood bar

SHARE Man files lawsuit in police-involved shooting at Mount Greenwood bar

A lawsuit has been filed in connection with a shooting at a Southwest Side bar last December, which left the alleged gunman dead after an off-duty Chicago Police sergeant opened fire.

Matthew Layhe, who claims he was shot by the gunman on Dec. 7, 2014, at Blackthorn Pub, filed the suit in Cook County Circuit Court on Thursday. He named the gunman’s estate and the bar as defendants.

That night, Layhe claims he was watching a football game with friends at the pub, 3300 W. 111th St., when an intoxicated man began arguing with him. The man, identified as 45-year-old Thomas McGinty, then pulled out a gun and shot Layhe twice, the suit claims.

An off-duty Chicago Police sergeant saw the shooting happen, pulled out his gun and identified himself as an officer, authorities said at the time. He ordered McGinty to drop the gun, but McGinty ignored him and pointed the weapon at patrons and at the sergeant, police said.

The officer opened fire, striking McGinty multiple times, authorities said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said his weapon was recovered at the scene.

Leahy claims the both McGinty and the bar were negligent in his three-count suit. He also places blame on Blackthorn Pub for allegedly serving McGinty too much alcohol.

Neither the bar nor the women in charge of McGinty’s estate could be reached for comment Thursday night.

The Latest
The man was shot in the left eye area in the 5700 block of South Christiana Avenue on the city’s Southwest Side.
Most women who seek abortions are women of color, especially Black women. Restricting access to mifepristone, as a case now before the Supreme Court seeks to do, would worsen racial health disparities.
The Bears have spent months studying the draft. They’ll spend the next one plotting what could happen.
Woman is getting anxious about how often she has to host her husband’s hunting buddy and his wife, who don’t contribute at all to mealtimes.
He launched a campaign against a proposed neo-Nazis march at a time the suburb was home to many Holocaust survivors. His rabbi at Skokie Central Congregation urged Jews to ignore the Nazis. “I jumped up and said, ‘No, Rabbi. We will not stay home and close the windows.’ ”