Mystery surrounds the case of George Lash, 19, who was returning home from visting friends from the south side of Chicago when a shooting happened on a train filled with passengers at the Garfield stop. Police say two officers opened fire on Lash claiming he pointed a gun at them and they had no choice but to open fire on the teen.
The man’s aunt and sister aren’t buying that story and they are looking for answers. Lash’s family was speaking out after witnesses decided to so the same. Some people aboard the train early Saturday have contacted various media outlets to say they are not sure the shooting was justifiable.
Lash was shot multiple times by Chicago police, who say the incident was cut and dry: Lash pointed a gun at the officers, and the officers fired back.
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The shooting took place on a full train at 1:30 a.m. Saturday. Loretta Langford was on her way home from work when the train stopped at 55th and the Dan Ryan.
‘The conductor said we were waiting for the Chicago police to come,’ said Langford.
Police say they were called by the conductor because one of the passengers was carrying a gun. According to police, that passenger was George Lash. However, Langford says she, nor the people she was sitting with on the train, ever saw Lash’s gun during a struggle with the officers.
‘They tussled him down to the ground and a lady officer said he had a gun, and they just started shooting. They had no regard for the people that were on the train or anything. They just started shooting. Whoever they were looking for was not on the train,’ Langford said.
Lash’s family admits the 19-year-old has had a troubled past, but they say after Lash was recently released from jail on parole violation, he was determined to turn his life around and he had just signed up to get his GED.
