By Serena Maria Daniels and Annie Sweeney, Tribune reporter
9:36 PM CDT, March 22, 2010
Quentin Green's violence toward the women close to him is well-documented, court records show.
He also took his anger out on their children.
On Sunday evening, a Chicago police officer fatally shot Green when he allegedly refused to drop a knife he was holding to the throat of a 6-year-old boy.
Green had been barred from the apartment in the 6500 block of South Lowe Avenue by court order after he allegedly hit his estranged girlfriend, Tanisha McGee, last month, court documents show The two had quarreled when he arrived at the apartment Sunday in defiance of the court order, according to a law enforcement source.
It turned physical, and he threw her out of the apartment, locking himself inside an upstairs room with her 6-year-old son and two other young boys.
McGee called police. When they arrived, officers tried to negotiate with Green, but then he went to the second floor of the unit and dangled the 6-year-old out of the window, a source said.
Police then forced their way into the apartment through a window. Green was sitting on the floor, holding a 7-inch serrated knife to the neck of the 6-year-old, sources said.
Officers ordered him to drop the knife several times, but he refused and instead threatened to harm the child, police said. An officer fired two shots, striking him in the chest. Green was taken in critical condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died at 10:24 p.m. Sunday, according to the medical examiner's office.
Neighbors said police ordered Green to drop the knife several times before he was shot. Green responded by yelling obscenities at police, the witnesses said. McGee remained at the scene pleading with police to get her child out safely.
The child suffered minor injuries and was treated at a hospital.
The shooting is under investigation by the Independent Police Review Authority.
Officers at the academy are now regularly trained in such real-life scenarios — some on computer programs — that aim to simulate the stress that can be caused by such split-second decisions.
"We expose the officer to (such) a situation so that when an officer sees the situation in the real world, it is not the first time,'' said firearms instructor Sgt. Dan Bartoli.
Green had a history of violence against women — including his mother — that dates back to at least 2003.
In a February 2003 arrest report, his mother, Lillian, signed complaints that Green had violated an order of protection. According to the report, he kicked in a door and threatened Green at a West Side address. Court records also show that the mother sought an emergency order of protection against her son in June 2006.
Last year, his estranged wife, Paula, got an order of protection after he punched her in the eye, according to court records.
Green has been sent to prison twice, once for possession of a controlled substance, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.
In an interview in her Lawndale home, Lillian Green said the relationship with her son had improved. She and other family members said the police could have handled the confrontation better, perhaps wounding him or using a Taser.
Green's estranged wife expressed mixed feelings about his shooting death. He had beaten her and her children, prompting her to separate from him about a month and a half after their marriage, she said.
"It hasn't hit me yet," Green said in a telephone interview of his death.
Tribune reporter Daarel Burnette contributed to this report.
sedaniels@tribune.com
asweeney@tribune.com
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