GRIEVING relatives and friends of two people shot and killed by Chicago police said Sunday the slayings raised concerns about why officers “shoot first and ask questions later,” saying the city failed residents even as a federal civil rights investigation has begun scrutinizing police practices.

    Quintonio LeGrier, 19, was killed early Saturday by police responding to a domestic disturbance at an apartment on the city’s West Side, along with downstairs neighbor Bettie Jones, 55. Police said Jones was hit accidentally by the gunfire.

    Both were black. The shootings came amid scrutiny of police after a series of deaths of African-Americans at the hands of officers across the country gave rise to the Black Lives Matter movement.

    LeGrier’s mother, Janet Cooksey, during a vigil Sunday placed candles on the porch of the two-story home, where Jones lived in a ground-floor apartment and LeGrier’s father in an upstairs unit.

    “I used to watch the news daily and I would grieve for other mothers, other family members, and now today I’m grieving myself,” Cooksey said at a news conference outside the residence earlier Sunday. She wore a black shirt with Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s image on it and the phrase “Rahm Failed Us.”

    Others who spoke said police should have used stun guns or other nonlethal methods if they felt they needed to subdue LeGrier, a college student home for holiday break.

    “Why do (police) have to shoot first and ask questions later?” Jacqueline Walker, a friend of Jones, asked. “It’s ridiculous.”

    Some who showed up to support the families of Jones and LeGrier questioned how such shootings could occur while federal investigators are focusing on the Chicago Police Department, including a look at whether there are patterns of racial disparity in the use of force.

    “Something is seriously wrong,” said the Rev. Marshall E. Hatch, who attended the vigil. “How in the middle of all this scrutiny, (can you) have a trigger-happy policeman?”

    Jones, a mother of five known for working with community groups committed to reducing violence, had hosted family on Christmas Day, friends and relatives said. Family spokesman Eric Russell said Jones’ many grandchildren had hoped to thank her for their Christmas gifts over the weekend.

    (SD-Agencies)