A white police officer plans to sue the estate of a black teenager he shot dead because he was traumatized by the fact that he accidentally killed the teen's neighbour in the incident, his lawyer said Saturday.
"The damage is my client feels horrible that Bettie Davis is dead because of the actions he was forced to take," attorney Joe Brodsky told AFP.
"It's affected him greatly. It's a burden he's going to have to carry for the rest of his life."
The December 26 shooting came as the US city was reeling from a series of incidents in which police were accused of being too ready to pull the trigger on their service weapons.
The family of LeGrier, 19, has repeatedly said there was no reason why police should have opened fire when responding to a domestic disturbance at their home. They have sued both the city and the officer who shot him: Robert Rialmo, 27.
City officials apologized for the death of Davis, a 55-year old mother of five, but have said LeGrier's shooting was justified.
The city has released few details about the incident except to say that LeGrier was brandishing a baseball bat when he was shot after his father called for help in the wee hours of the morning.
LeGrier, an engineering student who was struggling with mental health problems, had called 911 for help several times earlier that evening but the dispatcher did not send an officer to the house until his father called.
Brodsky said that makes the incident a "double tragedy because if my client had advance knowledge he was dealing with a mentally ill person he may have handled this in a different way."
Police tactics and racism have been the subject of a national debate since protests erupted in Ferguson, Missouri, in mid-2014 over the shooting death of a black teenager, 18-year-old Michael Brown.
The US Justice Department is investigating how Chicago police use force after the death of another black teenager, Laquan McDonald, who was shot 16 times as he was walking away from officers.
Brodsky insists this case is nothing like that of McDonald, an incident caught on camera which sparked mass protest and led embattled Mayor Rahm Emanuel to fire Chicago's police chief and reform the department.
"He didn't kill him like he murdered him -- he shot to save his own life," Brodsky said in a telephone interview.
"Somebody is swinging a baseball bat and they're two feet above you, you're a pumpkin.
