Sandy MaloneBlue Island, IL – An off-duty probationary Chicago police officer has been charged with multiple crimes, including attempted murder, after he shot three people after an argument about the bathroom of a Blue Island bowling alley last week.
Chicago’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) was notified at about 1:40 a.m. on Jan. 12 about an officer-involved shooting that had occurred at the Burr Oak Bowl, located in the 3000-block of West 127th Street in Blue Island, the Chicago Sun Times reported.
COPA spokesman Ephraim Eaddy said the rookie officer, who has been a member of the Chicago Police Department for less than a year, allegedly got into an “altercation” with someone at the bowling alley that led to gunfire.
The probationary period for new Chicago police officers is 18 months.
Prosecutors said that 27-year-old Chicago Police Officer Kyjuan Tate’s sister was using the men’s room at the bowling alley at about 11:45 p.m. on Jan. 11 when another man wanted to use it, WBBM reported.
Officer Tate blocked the man from going into the men’s restroom, according to the complaint.
Prosecutors said the off-duty officer was visibly inebriated and the 42-year-old man he had the confrontation with had not been drinking, WBBM reported.
Charging documents said the other man left and went out to the parking lot to start his car to warm it up, and then returned to try to use the restroom.
Prosecutors said that Officer Tate confronted the man again and lifted up his sweater to show that he was wearing a Glock handgun holstered in the waistband of his sweatpants, WBBM reported.
Officer Tate and the man engaged in a heated argument, prompting the other man’s 52-year-old cousin to try and break it up.
But the officer swung at the one man and tried to hit him in the face, according to prosecutors.
Officer Tate and the 42-year-old man engaged in a shoving match, and then the officer handed his gun to his sister who had just come out of the bathroom, WBBM reported.
Prosecutors said that was when the 42-year-old man punched Officer Tate in the face four or five times, and knocked the officer to the ground.
Charging documents showed the man started to walk away after he hit Officer Tate, and then the officer got up and retrieved his gun from his sister and pointed it at the man’s head behind his right ear, WBBM reported.
Prosecutors said Officer Tate pulled the trigger and fired the Glock and a bullet grazed the 42-year-old man’s ear.
That same bullet kept going and struck his older cousin in the chest, according to WBBM.
Prosecutors said the bullet went through the 52-year-old man, exited his back, and then hit the bowling alley manager in the hand, just above his wrist.
Charging documents showed the first man who was shot in the ear grabbed Officer Tate’s arm and a struggle for the weapon ensued, WBBM reported.
The gun fell to the floor as dozens of other customers fled the bowling alley.
Prosecutors said the manager of the bowling alley called 911, WBBM reported.
Charging documents showed that Officer Tate retrieved his weapon from the floor and left the bowling alley.
Surveillance video from the bowling alley showed Officer Tate walking out to his car with his gun still in his hand, WBBM reported.
Blue Island police arrived on the scene before the officer had a chance to leave the parking lot.
Witnesses pointed Officer Tate out to the arriving officers and he was immediately arrested, WBBM reported.
Officer Tate was assigned to the Calumet District on the Far South side of Chicago.
The officer was stripped of his police powers following the shooting, pending the outcome of the investigation, WGN reported.
Chicago police said Officer Tate had be re-assigned to desk duty.
The 52-year-old victim who was shot in the chest remained hospitalized at Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in stable condition, WLS reported.
COPA said it was investigating the incident in conjunction with the Blue Island Police Department.
Officer Tate was charged with two counts of aggravated battery with a firearm and one count of attempted murder on Friday in connection with the shooting, WGN reported.
He made his first court appearance on Jan. 14.
A law enforcement source told the Chicago Sun Times that it was not the first time the rookie had been in trouble with the Chicago Police Department for his behavior off-duty.
The source said the officer had an altercation with someone while he was off-duty at a restaurant during a graduation party with some of his police academy classmates, WLS reported.
According to the source, the probationary officer told the person he was fighting with that he was a cop and then radioed an officer-in-distress call to dispatchers via a police radio, the Chicago Sun Times reported.
Prior to becoming a Chicago police officer, Officer Tate worked as a court liaison for Cook County Adult Probation, WBBM reported.
Holly Matkin
