An off-duty police officer hit a four-year-old girl with his motorcycle and was then was physically attacked by and allegedly shot the child’s angry father. Just moments after a veteran Chicago police officer reportedly hit the young child, the girl’s irate dad allegedly physically attacked the law enforcement officer. The Chicago cop was on his way home from a shift when he saw the little girl running into the street, according to The Blaze. To prevent the motorcycle from running over the child, the officer jumped from the bike, pulling it down towards the pavement with him.
Although the quick actions by the Chicago police officer, 43, kept the motorcycle from running over the girl, it flipped on top of her and her cousin John Passley,18, as it skidded along the roadway. The police officer immediately began aiding the child when her father Christopher Middleton, 26, ran from a restaurant nearby. The Chicago law enforcement officer maintains he identified himself, but Middleton allegedly punched him in the face hard enough to knock him to the ground anyway. Christopher Middleton allegedly continued to hit the police officer repeatedly while he was on the ground, the Daily Herald reports.
“Take it easy, I’m the police,” the Chicago police officer stated, according to the Daily Herald. The injured girl’s father reportedly responded, “I don’t give a f**k who you are,” and punched the Chicago cop again. People walking by the motorcycle accident allegedly began kicking the officer, who was still on the ground, aiding Middleton in the physical attack.
The officer reportedly drew his service weapon to protect himself, fired once, and wounded Middleton fatally. Tina Middleton, the shooting victim’s sister, told the Chicago Sun Times that her brother was a good person and she believes he “was not out to harm” the officer.
“Two wrongs don’t make a right,” Tina Middleton also stated during the newspaper interview. Christopher Middleton and his daughter were visiting relatives in his home town at the time of the accident. Middleton was planning on getting married on August 18; he also has a six-year-old son and unborn child.
The little girl hit by the Chicago police officer’s motorcycle suffered minor abrasions and contusions and was held in a local hospital overnight for observation and then released. Passley is being held by police officers for questioning about the attack and fatal shooting. The 8-year veteran Chicago police officer suffered a broken leg and shoulder from the crash and multiple contusions to his body and head from the attack. The shooting remains under investigation by the Independent Police Review Authority.