A Chicago police officer is seeking more than $10 million in damages from the estate of a man he shot and killed because he says the incident caused him "extreme emotional trauma."
Officer Robert Rialmo fatally shot 19-year-old Quintonio LeGrier and his neighbor, 55-year-old Bettie Jones, after responding to a domestic disturbance call on Dec. 26. (Video via WLS-TV)
According to Rialmo’s lawsuit, the officer was forced to fire his weapon because he feared for his life. The lawsuit alleges LeGrier repeatedly swung a baseball bat at the officer's head and ignored multiple orders to drop the bat. (Video via WMAQ)
But that's not what LeGrier's father says happened. In a wrongful death lawsuit Antonio LeGrier filed against the city, he said his son "never posed a danger or threat of harm to any Chicago police officer before he was shot." (Video via CNN)
The family of Bettie Jones also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city. The Chicago Police Department called Jones' death an "accident" and apologized.
Officer Rialmo's lawyer told the Chicago Tribune: "He's got this extra added burden [with] the death of Jones. He's going through what I would call the normal grieving process for someone who is forced to take a human life."
This video includes images from Getty Images and music by Chris Zabriske / CC BY 4.0.
