Illinois town reaches $1.9m settlement with teen accidentally shot by police
CHICAGO — A teenager who was shot and wounded during a 2019 shootout between suburban Chicago police and a bank robbery suspect inside a music school has reached a $1.9 million settlement with the city of Des Plaines.
Rylan Wilder signed off this week on the settlement, nearly four years after a bullet fired by Des Plaines Officer James Armstrong tore a hole through his left arm, the Chicago SunTimes reported.
Armstrong was chasing an armed man who had shot another officer after a bank robbery in Des Plaines when the suspect ran into Upbeat Music & Arts on Chicago’s Northwest
Side. Armstrong followed him inside, shooting and killing him. In the process, he also accidentally shot Wilder, who was 15 and working as an intern at the school.
The bullet that hit the crook of Wilder’s left elbow destroyed an artery, shredded a nerve, and obliterated bone, threatening his guitar-playing dreams.
Wilder’s parents sued in Cook County circuit court, alleging that the officer’s actions were excessive, and that he displayed “reckless, willful, and wanton conduct.” Armstrong wasn’t criminally charged in the shooting, was cleared of wrongdoing by the city, and is still with the department.