Illinois

Chicago Police: 55-year-old who was 1 of 2 fatally shot by officer was 'accidentally struck'

Associated Press
Published | Updated

A Chicago police sergeant speaks with a relative of a man who was killed by a police officer in the West Garfield Park neighborhood in Chicago, early Saturday, Dec. 26, 2015. A Chicago police officer shot and killed two people while responding to a domestic disturbance call in the neighborhood on the city's West Side, police said. (Megan Crepeau/Chicago Tribune via AP) (The Associated Press)

Melvin Jones, facing camera, hugs Robin Andrews, both brothers of Bettie Jones, 55, in Jones' living room after she was shot and killed by a Chicago police officer in Chicago on Saturday, Dec. 26, 2015. A Chicago police officer shot and killed Jones and a man while responding to a domestic disturbance call in the neighborhood on the city's West Side, police said. (Abel Uribe/Chicago Tribune) (The Associated Press)

Chicago police officers talk with relatives of one of the two people killed by a police officer, as they investigate a shooting in the entry of their apartment in Chicago on Saturday, Dec. 26, 2015. A Chicago police officer shot and killed two people while responding to a domestic disturbance call in the neighborhood on the city's West Side, police said. (Abel Uribe/Chicago Tribune via AP) (The Associated Press)

A Chicago police officer responding to a domestic disturbance call accidentally shot and killed a 55-year-old woman, who was among two people fatally wounded by police gunfire, according to officials with the department that's already facing intense scrutiny.

Relatives said Bettie Jones lived downstairs from Quintonio LeGrier, the 19-year-old who prompted the initial call to police and who also was killed.

Officers who responded to the call "were confronted by a combative subject resulting in the discharging of the officer's weapon," the Chicago Police Department said in a brief statement late Saturday.

"The 55-year-old female victim was accidentally struck and tragically killed," reads the statement, which extends "deepest condolences to the victim's family and friends."