A Chicago police officer and academy instructor is facing felony charges in an off-duty shooting that wounded a man in Albany Park.
Police Officer Kevin Bunge feared he was about to be the victim of a carjacking when he fired several rounds at a parked vehicle on Dec. 11 in the 3300 block of West Irving Park Road, his defense attorney Tim Grace said.
“He acted like a police officer,” the attorney said repeatedly in court Wednesday.
The shooting is also under investigation by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which investigates the use of police force.
Bunge told COPA investigators and Cook County prosecutors that he heard several gunshots before approaching the two men inside the parked vehicle. He claimed that one of the men pointed a gun at him.
But surveillance video from a nearby business contradicted at least some of Bunge’s claims, according to prosecutors.
The state’s attorney office declined to comment on the decision to file aggravated battery with a handgun and aggravated discharge of a handgun charges.
Bungee, 39, was sitting in his Jeep listening to an audiobook when he noticed the two men pull up behind him in a red car, prosecutors said.
After he said he heard gunshots, he got out of his Jeep with his personal weapon drawn and approached the red car in a “tactical position,” prosecutors said.
Bunge fired a shot through the driver’s side window, which struck the driver in the right hand, prosecutors said. The driver started speeding backwards when Bunge allegedly fired a second shot that struck the car’s fender.
Bunge then called 911 to report the shooting.
Officers were also dispatched to the nearby 7-Eleven where the injured man drove after the shooting to also call 911. Two bullet holes were found in the car, prosecutors said. No weapons were recovered.
The injured man who was required to get surgery for his hand and is expected to need another, prosecutors said.
Both he and the other man filed a civil rights lawsuit against Bunge, claiming excessive force, the Chicago Sun-Times previously reported.
Video released by COPA last month, which has no audio, showed that the occupants of the red car never got out of their vehicle after they parked. The video shows Bunge approach the car about two minutes after it pulled behind him and the car accelerating backward seconds after Bunge approached.
Bunge’s lawyer said his client was the victim of a previous carjacking attempt and noted that December’s incident in Albany Park occurred a week after a retired Chicago firefighter was killed during a carjacking attempt on the Far South Side.
“The thoughts going through his mind is, ‘Why is the victim parked so close behind me and what are they doing?’” Grace said.
“He’s driving...a new jeep. That’s high on the list of targets of carjackings ... that our city is actually plagued with.”
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22378301/Bunge__Kevin_booking_photo.jpg)
Bunge pulled out his CPD badge out and announced he was an officer when he initially approached the car and inquired “Who’s shooting?” Grace said.
When Bunge allegedly saw a gun was pointed at him, he feared for his life and fired his own gun, the attorney said.
Bunge, whose father was also a CPD officer, previously served in the Marine Corps and as a Cook County sheriff’s correctional officer before joining police department 8 years ago, according to Grace. He is currently assigned as an instructor for the department’s academy teaching use of force procedure.
Bunge reported the shooting and cooperated with investigators afterwards, the attorney added.
Judge John F. Lyke Jr. called the case “a head scratcher.”
“In this defendant’s mind, he heard a gunshot. The state is telling [us] that the video of it does not bear that out and that these two gentlemen were just parked behind him,” he said.
Lyke Jr. ordered Bungee’s bail set at $10,000 bail.
Lyke declined to rule on prosecutors’ request to order Bunge to surrender all his firearms. He said another judge with more time could make that decision at his next hearing on March 25.
Chicago police, in a statement, said Bunge was relieved of his police powers shortly after the shooting and could face additional disciplinary actions pending the outcome of the criminal and administrative investigations.
