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player ready...The mother of a Waukegan man shot to death by police at NorthShore Highland Park Hospital has sued two Highland Park police officers and the city of Highland Park, alleging they used “excessive, unreasonable” force, according to the lawsuit.
Christopher Anderson, 27, was shot to death Nov. 3 at the hospital. Authorities have said Anderson pulled a gun from his waistband and refused to put it down despite repeated warnings. Highland Park Police Officers Brian Reif and Kevin Roberts fired nine shots in about 1.7 seconds, hitting Anderson multiple times, according to police documents.
But the wrongful death lawsuit, filed in federal court Sunday by Anderson’s mother, Venus Anderson, against Reif, Roberts and the City of Highland Park, says the shooting was “without cause and while (Anderson) was following the officer’s orders.”
“My son died senselessly,” Venus Anderson said in a phone interview Tuesday. “There was no reason for him to die in that room.”
His death deprived his “heirs of companionship, society, love, affection, and pecuniary interests,” according to the lawsuit, which also states Venus Anderson is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
Video surveillance footage from outside the hospital room, released by Highland Park, shows hospital employees fleeing the room.
Medical staff members, security guards and police reportedly told Lake County investigators that Anderson drew a gun and would not put it down. Following an investigation, the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office determined the shooting to be justified.
Asked what evidence there was to indicate her son had been following police orders to drop the weapon, Venus Anderson deferred to her attorney, Blake Horwitz, who could not be immediately reached for comment.
Steven Elrod, Highland Park’s attorney, said Tuesday the city had not yet been served with the lawsuit and could not comment in detail on the allegations in the complaint.
“However, knowing all of the facts and having had reviewed the independent report prepared by the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force, I know of no conceivable basis of liability on the part of either the officers or the city,” Elrod said.
Hours before the shooting, Anderson and his 9-year-old daughter had been passengers in a one-vehicle accident on the Edens Expressway, authorities have said. Anderson and his daughter were taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
In interviews with Lake County investigators, Illinois State Police officers at the scene of the accident said Anderson had been drunk and agitated.
Despite Anderson’s reportedly aggressive behavior toward state police and a request by paramedics that he be frisked, he was not, according to documents in the task force investigation.
Highland Park police were called to the hospital in the early morning hours of Nov. 3 to help hospital employees with Anderson, who reportedly was being uncooperative and aggressive, officials have said. After medical staff members tried to persuade Anderson to change into a hospital gown for treatment, Anderson drew the gun.
Both Reif and Roberts told investigators that they felt trapped in close proximity with Anderson and feared for their lives.
In surveillance video footage taken moments after hospital staff ran out of the room, Anderson can be seen being wheeled out of the room on a gurney. Attempts to save his life were unsuccessful.
At the time of the shooting, Anderson’s daughter had been in a different part of the hospital, authorities said.
Venus Anderson said she filed the lawsuit to get justice for her son.
“Police said to put the gun down,” the mother. “As he was proceeding to do that, they shot him.”
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