Man shot by Chicago police in Washington Park charged with assault, unlawful possession of a firearm

A man shot by Chicago police earlier this week in the Washington Park neighborhood has been charged with aggravated assault and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability said two officers in an unmarked squad car spotted 26-year-old Anthony Nelson leaving a liquor store near 57th and Michigan on Tuesday morning. Police said the officers believed Nelson had a gun, and he ran off when they tried to question him.

Cook County prosecutors said, as he was running away, Nelson dropped the gun he was carrying, and then picked it up again, despite orders not to touch it. Police said that’s when an officer shot Nelson.

Nelson suffered a graze wound to the abdomen and the right arm and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition, police said.

On Thursday, Nelson was charged with one felony count of aggravated assault of a police officer and one felony count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.

The officer who fired the shot was also taken to an area hospital. A gun was recovered at the scene, police said.  

At Nelson’s first court appearance on Thursday, a judge ordered him held at Cook County Jail while he awaits trial.

“Ain’t nobody perfect out here. We’ve done things and we’ve made mistakes,” Nelson’s mother, Shalene Foster, said after her son’s hearing.

Thursday was Nelson’s birthday.

“He got to go through this on today of him making 26 years old,” Foster said. “It’s like an empty space in my heart right now. … There’s a lot of mothers that’s tired too. We’re tired. We’re tired of this.”

Nelson has an extensive criminal history that began when he was 19. He has been convicted twice before of felony weapons charges, and was on patrol at the time of his arrest, according to court records.

He is due back in court on Nov. 26.

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability was investigating the shooting, and the officer who shot Nelson has been placed on administrative duty for 30 days, which is typical protocol for COPA investigations.