Two people were fatally shot by Chicago police officers early Saturday morning, authorities confirmed, including a female victim who police said was "accidentally struck and tragically killed."
The victims were identified as Quintonio LeGrier, a 19-year-old black male, and Bettie R. Jones, a 55-year-old black woman, the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed to BuzzFeed News. Earlier reports stated Jones' age as 57.
Officers responding to a report of a domestic disturbance at around 4:25 a.m. local time were "confronted by a combative subject which resulted in the discharging of the officer's weapon," fatally wounding two people, Eugene Roy, chief of Chicago police department's detectives, said at a press conference.
During the call, Jones was accidentally shot, Chicago police said in a statement.
Both victims were pronounced dead at two separate hospitals, a spokesperson for the Medical Examiner's Office said.
"The department extends its deepest condolences to the victim's family and friends," the statement read.
By Saturday night, police released few details about how the fatal shooting transpired, saying in a statement that specifics, and the use of deadly force by the officers, would be investigated by the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA).
A spokesperson for the IPRA confirmed to BuzzFeed News that the incident is under investigation. He did not provide further details saying that the IPRA only releases updates once an investigation is closed.
"For context, investigations in police-involved shootings typically take about a year," he said.
Quintonio LeGrier, NIU student killed in police-involved shooting in West Garfield Park https://t.co/JWR8PY0dfW
"I went to the hospital and my son had seven bullet holes in him," LeGrier's mother told ABC7 Chicago.
LeGrier, who was studying engineering at Northern Illinois University, had been recently having severe mood swings and was easily agitated, family members told the Chicago Tribune.
On Saturday, his father called police because LeGrier was agitated and carrying a metal baseball bat, the Tribune reported.
"His father was scared, because that's not his character," LeGrier's mother told the Tribune. "We're thinking the police are going to service us, take him to the hospital. They took his life."
Witnesses said Bettie Jones, a downstairs tenant in the building, was a bystander when she was fatally shot by the police. Her daughter, Latisha Jones, told the Tribune that she woke up to find her mother lying near the door with a gunshot wound in her neck.
"She wasn't saying anything," Jones said. "I had to keep checking for a pulse."
The fatal police shooting comes a month after a white Chicago police officer was charged with murder for fatally shooting black teenager Laquan McDonald in 2014.
The release of the dash-cam video in November, showing Officer Jason Van Dyk shooting 17-year-old McDonald 16 times, sparked protests and national outrage, forcing the resignation of Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy and prompting a Department of Justice investigation into the city's police department. Mayor Rahm Emanuel apologized for the shooting and announced a "police accountability task force" to review the department.
Police officials did not specify how many officers fired their weapons.
Those involved, the statement read, were placed on a 30-day administrative leave.