Illinois state police are investigating after a police officer in Waukegan fatally shot a Black teenager on Tuesday night, authorities said Wednesday. Police say a patrol officer had been investigating a vehicle when it fled, and another officer spotted it and approached. “While officer #2 was out of his vehicle, and approaching the suspect vehicle, it began to reverse. Officer #2 fired his semi-automatic pistol, in fear for his safety,” police said in a statement. The passenger, a Black teen identified by his family as 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette, died after being struck by gunfire. The driver, Tafara Williams, Stinnette’s girlfriend and the mother of his child, was injured and transported to a hospital, the Chicago Tribune reports. “When I got there, she said, ‘Mama, they just shot us for nothing,’” Williams’ mother, Tina Johnson, told the Tribune. It was not immediately clear why the vehicle Williams and Stinnette were in was deemed suspicious. Family members said the two were just sitting in the car outside Williams’ home. The shooting has already prompted fresh protests in the area, with the Lake County branch of Black Lives Matter planning a March on Thursday.
