Off-duty Chicago cop 'shoots dead his 23-year-old son at home after an argument'

An off-duty Chicago police officer has killed his son after shooting him dead during a domestic incident on the city’s Southwest Side.

Rafael Simon Flores, 23, was killed just before 2am at a home in the Garfield Ridge neighborhood.    

Police said he was fatally shot ‘by the homeowner during a physical altercation,’ and was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Detectives are investigating the shooting as ‘domestic related’ according to the Chicago Sun Times.

Property records show that the house is owned by a veteran of the Chicago Police Department who had been with the department for 19 years.

A source said that Flores was the son of an officer. 

An autopsy revealed that Flores died from multiple gunshot wounds according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. His death has been ruled a homicide. 

Flores was a keen sports fan and was also the coach of a local football team who paid tribute.

‘It’s with great sadness that we announce the passing of Rafael Simon Flores. Simon was a member of the Class of 2015 and recently returned as an assistant football coach,’ St. Rita Mustangs Football team posted on Twitter.

President of the Fraternal Order of Police, John Catanzara, who is a part of the union that represents rank-and-file Chicago police officers, visited the home on Wednesday morning but  did not coment on what happened. 

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability is also investigating the shooting,

‘Our investigation is now open and ongoing,’ said Ephraim Eaddy, a spokesman for the police oversight office. 

‘Usually COPA responds to incidents where an officer has discharged their weapon, so obviously, in a case like this, that will definitely be the reason we responded,’ he said.

Crime scene tape was seen in front of the family home while officers were at the scene for more than five hours on Wednesday morning.  

‘We were woken up by the emergency vehicles approaching,’ said Jeff Jestadt to CBS2 who lives close by.

Jestadt  has known Flores and his family for about 13 years.

‘I consider them to be great neighbors. They’re the kind of people that you know, has your back,’ he said. ‘They were very, very, very nice people. We have the same kind of a dog and that’s kind of our connection between the two of us, two families. Just very nice people overall.’

Speaking about Flores, Jefstadt said he would regularly see him in the street. 

‘He was just a quiet kid. We’d see him, just over this past summer. He’d go out for walks, by himself. Sometimes he’d take his dog with him. We’d see him out in the alley, sometimes playing basketball or whatever, kind of hanging out. We’d wave. He’d wave back.’