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Chicago Policeman Killed Woman, Student Following Domestic Violence Report

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It seems police officers in the US have no alternative but to shoot people when responding to domestic disturbances. That must be the case given the latest incidents in Chicago where a policeman killed a black woman and a black teenager.

Shootings that resulted in two deaths have took place in the western part of the city early Saturday morning, according to local enforcement that appeared at the scene after a report of possible domestic violence.

"Upon arrival, officers were confronted by a combative subject resulting in the discharging of the officer's weapon, fatally wounding two individuals," police said.

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The Medical Examiner's office reportedly identified the dead as 55-year-old Bettie Jones and Quintonio Legrier, 19, soon after they were taken to the hospital. Jones was reportedly a mother of five and LeGrier a student at Northern Illinois University. The identity of LeGrier remains in question as different reports say the name could be misspelled.

The Chicago Tribune newspaper reported that Quintonio LeGrier, who, according to his relatives was struggling with mental health issues, was threatening his father with a baseball bat when police were called in.

Touted to be a leader in enhancing public safety and security, Chicago is currently investigating the reason behind the misconduct of the police officer, whose name remains unrevealed. The Independent Police Review Authority has been questioning the credibility of police actions since Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel recently dismissed the authority's chief official in the wake of complaints about the agency.

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Earlier this week, Chicago protesters demanded that Rahm resign after a Chicago police officer shot an unarmed 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times on October 20, 2014. Officer Jason Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder more than a year later after the video emerged, prompting demonstrations against police brutality and unchecked deadly use of force

The Twitter account belonging to the Chicago Police Department posted no developments of the shooting cases and only wished happy holidays to everyone, though family members of those wounded and killed these holidays would hardly find a reason to be happy.

Melvin Jones, the brother of the woman killed, reportedly said his sister celebrated Christmas at her apartment Friday with about 15 other relatives. He said she "had an excellent Christmas."

"There are so many questions and no answers," Melvin Jones said. "I'm numb right now. Right now there's a whole lot of anger, a whole lot of tears…. I don't have time to feel. I have a funeral to prepare."

In October, Emanuel announced a buy-back program to get gun offs the streets and save lives.

A series of shootings against minorities, however, don't appear to make headlines anymore but have led to public outrage as it appears most black men killed by police nationwide are killed by white police officers.

According to the Washington Post, as of December, 24 almost 1,000 people have been fatally shot by police this year.

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