Chicago police officers shot and killed an armed man Wednesday after he barricaded himself at home near the University of Chicago and fired shots outside.
A man called police about 10:15 a.m. to report that his son, who had bipolar disorder, was armed and distraught at a home in the 1300 block of East 61st Street in Woodlawn, Chicago Police Lt. Ozzie Valdez said at a news conference. He asked for police to help.
Officers arrived and negotiated with 22-year-old Myles Frazier, who was barricaded inside, police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.
During negotiations, he fired at least five gunshots from inside the home, Valdez said. Some of those shots went outside.
A SWAT team was called to the scene and entered the home after Frazier refused to come out after at least 45 minutes of negotiating, Valdez said.
Two officers shot him during an “armed confrontation” inside the residence, Valdez said.
Frazier was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said. He lived in the same block where he was shot.
Police said a weapon was recovered at the scene.
A police spokesperson did not know if the death was being classified as a “suicide-by-cop” situation, in which someone provokes an officer to shoot them.
An autopsy released Thursday found that Frazier died of multiple gunshot wounds, the medical examiner’s office said. His death was ruled a homicide.
Shortly after the shooting, a large police presence remained outside the home, located across the street from a University of Chicago library. People walked up to police tape to photograph the scene.
An assistant at a nursing home within view of the home said she was working during the shooting, but was unaware of the commotion outside.
“Stuff like that doesn’t happen up here near the [university],” she said. “We’re more used to seeing that a block farther south” away from the school.
An employee of the university said he was walking back from the medical center and was surprised to see a SWAT vehicle outside the building he works.
“I said, ‘whoa,’ look, a SWAT team,” the man said. He added that he missed an alert from the university advising people to stay within buildings.
Someone who lives a few houses down from the shooting said he didn’t known Frazier, but questioned if police could have waited longer to enter the home, or used less lethal means.
He said that sending people into the home is what escalated the standoff and made it fatal.
“They could’ve thrown a robot into the home or something,” he said. “Who cares if a robot gets hurt?”
The Civilian Officer of Police Accountability is investigating the use of force and the officers involved will be placed on administrative duty for 30 days.
According to court records, Frazier was charged in 2017 with unauthorized use of a weapon, domestic battery and violating an order of protection. He has two other domestic battery counts from 2015 and 2016.
