- Credibility:
CHICAGO — Children had to scramble for cover on a school playground as a man shot and killed a Chicago police officer Wednesday — and then tried to walk away despite being shot himself, prosecutors said.
A judge ordered Steven Montano, 18, to be held without bail at a Friday hearing as he faces a murder charge in the slaying of officer Andrés Mauricio Vásquez Lasso. A prosecutor said Montano had gotten into an argument with his girlfriend, who called police, leading to a chase and the fatal shooting.
Montano, who was shot in his head during the shootout with Vásquez Lasso, remains hospitalized in critical condition at Stroger Hospital, a prosecutor said. He was not at the hearing.
Vásquez Lasso, 32, was shot three times and killed. He had been with the Police Department for five years, Supt. David Brown said at a Wednesday news conference after the shooting. The Sun-Times reported he was married and had a young daughter.
“This place, from start to finish, begins with violence, and it ends with violence,” the judge saying at Friday’s hearing.
Credit: Facebook; Chicago Police DepartmentWednesday afternoon, Montano was with his girlfriend, a 37-year-old woman, at their home in the 5200 block of South Spaulding Avenue when they got into an argument about their relationship and living arrangement, a prosecutor said at Friday’s hearing.
Montano “charged with his hands outstretched” at the woman, who stepped aside to avoid being hit, the prosecutor said. Montano threatened to get a gun, and the woman left the house through a side door, the prosecutor said.
The woman called 911 and reported Montano had a gun; as she was speaking to officials, Montano followed her, grabbed her phone, hung up on 911 and threw her phone, the prosecutor said.
The woman and Montano argued and went back inside the home, and “shortly” after that two police officers arrived in uniform in a marked car, the prosecutor said.
The officers went up to the home’s front door. They heard a noise from the gangway as Montano jumped out of a window into the gangway and ran toward an alley, the prosecutor said. One of the officers saw something in Montano’s hand and thought it was a gun, the prosecutor said.
Montano came across two neighbors in a nearby garage and dropped his gun and a magazine, the prosecutor said. He picked them up and asked the neighbors if he could hide the gun in their garage, the prosecutor said.
The neighbors said Montano could not hide the gun there, and Montano went into their garage and ran into the backyard of the home connected to the garage, the prosecutor said. He hopped the fence and went into the next yard.
The two officers had gone through the alley and saw Montano jump the fence, and they radioed that he was back on Spaulding Avenue, the prosecutor said.
Vásquez Lasso and another officer were driving to the block to help the first two officers. They saw Montano running on Spaulding Avenue, and Vasquez-Lasso got out of the car and chased him, the prosecutor said.
Montano went through a gate and entered the schoolyard of Sawyer Elementary School, 5247 S. Spaulding Ave., the prosecutor said. Vásquez Lasso chased Montano and told him to stop running multiple times, the prosecutor said.
Montano went into a fenced yard with a playground where children were playing, the prosecutor said. Vásquez Lasso — who was facing Montano’s back and couldn’t see his hands — continued to chase Montano; when they were just a few feet apart, Montano looked back at Vásquez Lasso, turned toward the officer and racked the slide on his pistol, the prosecutor said.
Montano pointed his gun at Vásquez Lasso, and both fired shots, the prosecutor said.
Montano shot five times, hitting Vásquez Lasso in his head, arm and leg, the prosecutor said. Vásquez Lasso fired twice, hitting Montano in his “mouth area,” the prosecutor said.
Children playing on the playground had to take cover underneath a slide, the prosecutor said.
Vásquez Lasso collapsed immediately in the playground, while Montano “stumbled a few feet away” into a parking lot, where he fell and dropped the gun, the prosecutor said.
Vásquez Lasso’s partner went to Montano, who stood up and “refused” to comply with police, the prosecutor said. Montano tried to walk away despite having been shot, and police tased and handcuffed him, the prosecutor said.
Officers found a gun beside Montano, the prosecutor said. The prosecutor said there is body-camera footage from Vásquez Lasso that shows Montano turning toward the officer, raising his gun and shooting. Evidence technicians also found spent shell casings and Vásquez Lasso’s gun.
Officers tried to save Vásquez Lasso, giving him care and putting him into a squad car before transferring him to an ambulance, the prosecutor said. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Public defender Julie Koehler said she hasn’t been able to speak with Montano yet as he remains hospitalized.
The judge ordered Montano held without bail, saying he presents a danger to the community. She said it is not clear who fired shots first, Montano or Vásquez Lasso, but it was “not relevant” for the hearing.
Vásquez Lasso had five years on the force and “had a bright future ahead of him,” Brown said at a news conference after the shooting.
“I ask that this city cover this officer’s family. This is a family of public servants. As you can imagine, they are taking this tragedy very, very hard,” Brown said. “This is something that no family should have to face.”
The last Chicago police officer killed in the line of duty was Ella French, 29, who was shot in August 2021 during a West Englewood traffic stop. Two brothers have been charged in that shooting.
“Policing is a big family, people who know at some point they may be asked to make the ultimate sacrifice,” Brown said Wednesday. “But you never wish or hope that it actually happens; and tonight, this tragedy did. There are some broken hearts that will take a long time to grieve, to accept this.”
Officials from the Civilian Office of Police Accountability are investigating the shooting. Investigators are reviewing body cameras, ballistic evidence and other surveillance footage to piece together what happened, Brown said.
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