Family wants answers after Chicago police fatally shoot Plainfield teen in Pilsen

The family of a Plainfield teen fatally shot by Chicago police early Sunday are looking for answers.Alex Angel Cortez, 16, left Sunday afternoon to go to a party with some friends in the Pilsen neighborhood. His father, Fulgencio Cortez, said he never imagined the teen wouldn’t return home.“I saw him earlier that day,” he said. “He had just gotten home from work, and he hugged me, asked me how I was.”Chicago police said officers assigned to the Robbery Task Force were patrolling when they heard multiple shots near the 1800 block of South Blue Island Avenue and encountered two “armed offenders” about 1:15 a.m.Officers then opened fire, striking Alex.He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead at 1:56 a.m., police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.Fulgencio Cortez said one of Alex’s friends called to tell him his son had been shot.“They told me, ‘It was the police. They shot him in the chest,’” Cortez said. “I went to the hospital, and when I got there, they wouldn’t let me see him. The detectives were interrogating us but wouldn’t tell me what happened or what happened to my son. They would ignore us when we were the ones asking questions.”Fulgencio Cortez said his family has hired a lawyer and hope they can soon find out more information about what happened to his son.“I don’t believe he was armed,” Cortez said. “Where would he find a weapon? There’s no reason my son should have been killed. He was a friendly boy who loved his friends.“We just want justice for my son. He’s not the first boy who’s died in the hands of the police, and it has to stop.”A firearm was found at the scene, police said.Alex’s aunt, Amparo Cortez, said the family was distraught when they heard about what happened to her nephew.“We were all at the hospital,” she said. “His brothers, his cousins, his parents. We couldn’t believe it, and we just wanted to know what happened. The police told us we were being disruptive, and they kicked us out.”Amparo Cortez said she doesn’t believe her nephew was armed when the shooting happened.“He was only 16,” she said. “I don’t believe it.”Near where officers heard the gunshots, a man and a woman were found inside a vehicle with multiple gunshot wounds. They were taken to area hospitals in critical condition.Police had no update on their conditions Monday.Officials determined Alex was one of the gunmen who opened fire on the vehicle, according to police.One officer suffered “minor injuries,” police said. Two officers were taken to an area hospital for observation.The Civilian Office of Police Accountability is investigating the incident. The officers involved will be placed on routine administrative duties for at least 30 days.