The handgun used to shoot three Chicago Police officers last week on the West Side was owned by a former Chicago cop who recently worked for the Lake County sheriff’s office, law enforcement sources said Thursday.
Lamar Harris, 29, a convicted felon, shot and wounded the three Chicago officers on March 14 during a narcotics investigation. Harris was killed when at least one of the officers returned fire. Chicago detectives have been investigating the ownership history of the gun Harris used.
A former Chicago officer who had worked for the department from June 2013 until January had owned the gun, the detectives learned. The officer went to work for the Lake County sheriff’s office, which recently fired him, sources said.
“We aggressively investigated the circumstances of how this gun ended up in Mr. Harris’ hands. CPD knows who owned the gun,” said Anthony Guglielmi, chief spokesman for the Chicago Police Department, who would not discuss specifics of the gun investigation.
Guglielmi said the gun was not reported as being stolen or lost.
A database of complaints against Chicago Police officers shows that one was filed against the 27-year-old former Chicago cop on April 24, 2014, in the Harrison District on the West Side. No details were available.
The three officers were shot in the Harrison District.
Detectives are continuing to investigate how the gun got into Harris’ hands, Guglielmi said. He described the weapon as a “collector’s gun,” but he could not give any specifics on the make or model.
The former Chicago officer has owned dozens of guns, sources said. He didn’t return a call seeking comment Thursday.
