Mom sues for excessive force, says police shot her 12-year-old son in bed with his hands up
(WLS/CNN/Meredith) — An Illinois mother is suing for excessive force, accusing police officers of shooting her unarmed 12-year-old son in May.
In new lawsuits against two cities and four officers, she says her son was in his bed, with his hands up, during a raid targeting her boyfriend.
The boy’s mother, Crystal Worship, says the child was sitting on the bed with his hands up in the air when the officer shot him in the leg.
She could hear her son, Amir, screaming for help.
According to the lawsuit, officers from both the Country Club Hills and Village of Richton Park police kicked open the doors to the house.
The officers dressed in full swat gear then threw flash grenades into the house.
The target of the raid was Worship’s boyfriend, who was wanted on drug charges.
But after he was arrested, the family says a Richton Park police officer pulled out a gun and pointed it at Amir.
The gun was not on safety and fired.
“The house was secure already. I don’t understand why his gun was off safety,” Worship said.
The family’s lawyer Al Hofeld, Jr. saod there is “still no possible professional reason or excuse for what this officer did to Amir Worship.”
Amir was rushed to surgery.
His mom says she was not allowed to go with him to the hospital.
The child now disabled and scarred from the raid gone terribly wrong.
“According to doctors, he will never be able to play sports again,” Hofeld said.
Local media reached out to the police departments but did not receive a response.
Illinois state police has opened an investigation.
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