Gun Alleged Gang Member Used to Shoot Cops Traced to…Cop

On the night of March 14, a man died in a shootout with police in Chicago after a “narcotics tactical team” interrupted a drug deal in progress in the West Side’s Homan Square neighborhood, home of the city’s infamous “black site” detention center.

From NBC Chicago:

Lamar Harris, who fired at officers Monday night in West Chicago, had seven felony convictions and 43 arrests on his rap sheet, according to police. His most recent felony convictions were on January 9, 2012, for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and resisting a peace officer, causing injury.

Three officers were shot during the gunfire exchange but survived.

But wait…how did Harris – with that extensive criminal record – obtain a gun in the first place? Chicago has some of the strictest gun laws in the United States.

Turns out, the gun that Harris allegedly used to shoot at the cops was…originally owned by a cop.

When investigators ran a routine trace of the weapon used in the shooting, it came back to a Sheriff’s Deputy in Lake County, who previously worked as a Chicago Police officer. This has been confirmed by multiple several law enforcement sources, according to The Chicago Tribune.

How did that gun end up in Harris’s hands?

A source close to the investigation told NBC Chicago that police are looking into the possibility of a so-called “straw purchase,” where the deputy might have possibly purchased the weapon for Harris, who as a convicted felon, was prohibited from making such a purchase.

The deputy claims he didn’t even know the weapon was missing. Police say he was unable to account for why he no longer had it.

Maybe that’s because the deputy has purchased at least 46 other weapons and he is having trouble keeping track of who he sold them to. Sources say the authorities are very interested in knowing where those guns are too.

Last Friday, the deputy was fired, but so far, he hasn’t been charged with anything.

The deputy, whose name has not been released, worked for the Chicago Police Department from June 2013 to January. Multiple law enforcement sources told the Tribune that he worked at least part of that time in the Harrison District where the shooting occurred. On January 11 of this year, he started working for the Lake County sheriff’s highway patrol division.

Before joining the Chicago police, the man served as a reserve officer for the Lake Geneva, WI, department for about two months in spring 2013, according to department officials. He was still in a training phase and had limited, if any, experience on the street before he was hired by the Chicago force.

The investigation is ongoing, and we will update this story as more information becomes available.