Nov. 24--A police dispatcher is heard calmly calling for backup after learning of shots fired at NorthShore Highland Park Hospital in a recording of police radio traffic during the Nov. 3 fatal shooting there.
A dispatcher first seeks to learn the status of Highland Park units that responded to the hospital.
Moments later, a voice crackles over the radio that shots have been fired.
"I need available units, somebody (who) can respond to the hospital," the dispatcher says. "We're getting shots fired at the hospital. Highland Park Hospital."
Christopher Anderson, 27, of Waukegan, was shot and killed by Highland Park police officers about 1:30 a.m. that day after Anderson became agitated, drew a gun from his waistband and refused to drop the weapon, according to police accounts.
Two of the four Highland Park police officers who responded fired nine shots in about 1.7 seconds after repeatedly urging Anderson to drop the gun, officials have said. He was pronounced dead at the hospital after medical staff attempted to save his life.
Anderson had been transported to the hospital the previous night after he and his 9-year-old daughter were passengers in a car accident on the Edens Expressway near Lake Cook Road. The driver of the car was arrested by state police on DUI and other charges. Anderson and his daughter were transported to the hospital with minor injuries.
Highland Park police and the Lake County state's attorney's office have said the shooting was justified after an investigation by the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force. Meanwhile, Anderson's family members continued to question last week whether lethal force was necessary.
Police have said the gun Anderson used was stolen.
In the audio of the police radio traffic, the dispatcher asks for additional units to respond to the hospital until an officer informs her that the "scene is secure."
"Do you need additional units to respond?" the dispatcher asks.
"Negative, we do not need additional units at this time."
