Footage Of Quintonio LeGrier Calling 911 3 Times Before Being Murdered By Cops Goes Public

Quintonio LeGrier called 911 three times on the morning after Christmas, pleading for help from Chicago police shortly before he was fatally shot by an officer responding to his father’s West Side residence, according to newly released recordings.

The existence of only one of the calls had previously been disclosed, but officials at the Independent Police Review Authority, which investigates police shootings, said Monday that the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications recently provided two calls from LeGrier just minutes earlier.

“I need to talk to an officer,” the 19-year-old told a dispatcher in the first call. “Someone’s threatening my life.”

Melissa Stratton, an OEMC spokeswoman, said disciplinary proceedings are underway for that 911 operator for failing to follow proper protocol. Police should have been dispatched after the caller said his life had been threatened, Stratton said.

That operator can be heard on the recording hanging up the call after LeGrier identified himself only as “Q” and declined to detail what was happening.

“Can you just send an officer?” a clearly frustrated LeGrier asked the dispatcher at one point.

“Yeah, when you answer the question,” she said.

Stratton said a 911 operator who took LeGrier’s third call a few minutes later dispatched a squad car on a well-being check. As officers responded, LeGrier’s father, Antonio, called 911 as well.

In contrast to his son’s initially flat tone, Antonio LeGrier’s breathing was heavy and panicked as the father told the dispatcher that his son was armed with a bat and he needed the help of police.

“My son is attempting to break inside my bedroom door,” he said in his only 911 call. “He’s got a baseball bat in his hand right now.”

Minutes later, the younger LeGrier was fatally shot by Officer Robert Rialmo outside his father’s residence in the 4700 block of West Erie Street after allegedly swinging a baseball bat at the officer. Bettie Jones, 55, who lived at the address and had come to the front door, was fatally shot in the chest by the same officer in what police have called an accident.

LeGrier was shot six times, while Jones suffered a single wound to her chest, according to autopsy reports by the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Described as intelligent by friends and family, LeGrier, a sophomore at Northern Illinois University, had acted erratically in the months leading up to the shooting, according to NIU police records.

As it does with every police shooting, IPRA referred the case to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office. State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, under fire for her handling of the fatal police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, asked for help from the FBI.

According to the recordings made public Monday by IPRA, Quintonio LeGrier made his first 911 call at 4:18 a.m.

He gave his address and said, “I need an officer.”

When the operator tried to find out what was wrong, LeGrier refused to give any details. He finally said: “Someone’s threatening my life.”

The operator wanted to know LeGrier’s name, but he identified him as just “Q.”

“What’s the last name?” she asked.

“Could you just send an officer?” he said.

“Yeah, when you answer the question,” she said.

“… There’s an emergency. Can you send an officer?” LeGrier said in an irritable tone.

“Yes, as soon as you answer these questions,” she said.

“There’s an emergency!” he shouted.

“OK, if you can’t answer the questions, I’m going to hang up,” the operator said.

“I need the police!” LeGrier screamed.

“Terminating the call,” the dispatcher said as she disconnected LeGrier.

LeGrier called two other times within the next few minutes. During the third call at 4:21 a.m., a different operator implored him to give her more information.

“If you can’t answer the questions, how do you expect me to assist you?” she said.

Later in the call, LeGrier can be heard saying: “Stop (expletive) playing with me.”

An attorney for the LeGrier family, which has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit over the shooting, expressed concern about how the call-takers responded to the teen, calling them “rude, offensive and unhelpful.”

“The first time he calls he’s hung up on and frankly that’s just disgusting behavior,” said Basileios Foutris, the family’s lawyer.

LeGrier grew more irritated with dispatchers with each call and refused to answer most of their questions.

“He’s met with ‘answer my question first,’ or something to that effect,” Foutris said of the following calls. “That’s outrageous. Right from the beginning, the (city) employees who are involved in this are acting improper.”

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