Off-duty police commander Paul Bauer (pictured) was shot dead Tuesday afternoon in Chicago
Charges have been filed against a four-time felon for shooting dead a Chicago police commander.
Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Wednesday the suspect, Shomari Legghette of Chicago, will be charged with first-degree murder, possession of narcotics and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
According to court records, 44-year-old Legghette has number of convictions, mainly drug-related.
He’s also been convicted of possessing a firearm with a defaced serial number. Legghette previously served time in prison for armed robbery.
Cmdr. Paul Bauer was shot Tuesday after spotting a man matching the radio description of an armed suspect.
A Chicago police official says 53-year-old Bauer identified himself as a police officer and was trying to detain the suspect when they got into a physical fight and fell down a stairwell. The official says the suspect shot Bauer in the head multiple times.
Four-time felon Shomari Legghette, 44, (pictured) was charged with first-degree murder on Wednesday
Superintendent Eddie Johnson choked back tears as he spoke to reporters outside Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where Bauer was pronounced dead.
The shooting occurred near the James R. Thompson Center, the state government office building.
Johnson said officers initially confronted the suspect because he was acting suspiciously.
Police captured the man a short time later, and a gun was recovered at the scene, he said.
In this Feb. 23, 2016 photo, then Chicago police Capt. Paul Bauer, left, takes part in the arrest of a protester outside an Apple store on Magnificent Mile in Chicago
Chicago police officers join in the procession behind the ambulance carrying the remains of Cmdr. Paul Bauer
Officers salute as the ambulance with Bauer’s remains leaves Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Officers appear glum as they join in procession following the fatal shooting of commander Bauer
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson (front) prepares to speak to the press outside Northwestern Memorial Hospital following the shooting death of Cmdr. Paul Bauer on February 13, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois
Police guard the crime scene after an off-duty Chicago police officer was shot at the James R. Thompson Center, in Chicago
A Chicago Police officer speaks a with a pedestrian at the scene where Bauer was shot while assisting a tactical team at a state government office building
Bauer was a 31-year veteran of the department.
There were initial media reports that the man may have been involved in the robbery of a local business, but Johnson did not provide details about what the man was doing that prompted officers to want to speak with him.
Witnesses to parts of the incident near said they heard gunshots.
‘I was walking down the street and I heard ‘pop pop pop pop pop,” Noreen Danko, who was walking to her office nearby, told the Chicago Tribune.
‘And I said to the girl next to me, ‘Is that what I think it is?’ And she said ‘Yep.’ I said ‘Aw geez.
Spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says Bauer was shot around 2 p.m. Tuesday at the James R. Thompson Center
Police guard the scene while assisting a tactical team at a state government office building, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018, in Chicago
Police gather at the scene while assisting a tactical team at a state government office building, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018, in Chicago
Police are seen speaking to one another after the shooting at the James R. Thompson Center
‘And everybody is scurrying all over and I see the police head to the stairs there. There’s a stairwell there. And it goes downstairs. I heard that the door is locked there. It used to be a pedway, but now, for security reasons they have it locked.’
She told the paper that she saw officers lead the shackled suspect away and put him in a squad car, and then watched as emergency workers administered CPR to Bauer, who was lying on a stretcher, before he was put inside an ambulance and rushed to the hospital.
‘I just ask the citizens of this city to keep the Bauer family in their prayers,’ Johnson said before he turned and left the briefing.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel offered his condolences, too, calling Bauer’s death ‘a tragic reminder of the dangerous duty the men and women of our police department accept to ensure the safety of us all.’
Chicago Police officers arrive at Northwestern Memorial Hospital emergency room, where an high-ranking Chicago Police officer was brought in code red, serious to critical condition, after being shot
A Chicago police officer strings crime scene tape across from the Thompson Center
A photographic memorial for Chicago Police Cmdr. Paul Bauer is displayed inside the Near North District station