Off-Duty Chicago Cop Told 911 Dispatcher He Fatally Shot Unarmed Man in Self-Defense

CHICAGO, IL — The off-duty Chicago police officer facing a murder charge in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man was released on his own recognizance Thursday despite prosecutors arguing he should be held without bail and describing his history of disputes with the victim, who was shot in the back and the hand, according to the Chicago Tribune.

During Thursday's bail hearing, the lawyer for Lowell Houser, the 28-year Chicago Police Department veteran charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Jose Nieves, claimed his client was defending himself in the incident on Jan. 2, the report stated. In the 911 call he made after the shooting, Houser tells the dispatcher he was attacked, and "I had to shoot him."

"This is self-defense," said William Fahy, the attorney for Houser, who will be electronically monitored while he's released. "My client is anxious to have his day in court. He's anxious to clear his name."

However, prosecutors claim a neighbor who witnessed the shooting's aftermath told authorities he went to his window after hearing a bang, which was followed by two more, the report stated. He then saw Houser across the street from Nieves, but he says never saw Nieves with a weapon or any physical contact between the two men, the report added.

Houser knew Nieves, 38, because the victim lived in the same Belmont Gardens neighborhood apartment building in the 2500 block of North Lowell Avenue as a female friend of Houser's, the report stated. Nieves also was friends with the woman's children, the report added.

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The two had had run-ins involving firearms in the past. On Dec. 11, Houser pulled out a gun and told Nieves to return to his apartment during one altercation, the Tribune reports. That incident was reported to police by Nieves, the report added.

According to witnesses, Houser and Nieves had a dispute before the shooting Jan. 2, while Nieves was unloading boxes from a friend's car, the report stated. Houser, from his car, allegedly asked the friend if she knew how poorly Nieves treated women, the report added.

Upset over the remark, Nieves confronted Houser, and the two began yelling at each other in the street, the report stated. According to a neighbor, Houser was by his car on the west side of Lowell Avenue, and Nieves was on the east side, walking north, the report added.

When the neighbor returned to watching what was unfolding on the street, he said Nieves was still across the street from Houser and clutching his chest as he fell to the ground, according to the report.

An autopsy of Nieves revealed two gunshot wounds: one through the right hand and another through his left lower back with bullet finally lodging in his chest, the Tribune reports.

According to the Tribune, Houser has faced at least 20 disciplinary investigations since the early 1990s. Although he wasn't punished in most of the complaints, he has been suspended by the department several times, the report added.

Nieves has no serious criminal convictions despite repeated arrests, according to the report.

On Jan. 6, Nieves' sister filed a federal lawsuit against the police department, accusing Houser of illegally detaining and threatening Nieves before the shooting. The suit also alleges the two had an argument sometime in the past.

Houser's lawyer Fahy told the Tribune that his client had intended to retire from the department at the end of the year after recently being diagnosed with prostate cancer.

More via the Chicago Tribune

Lowell Houser (photo via Cook County Sheriff's Office)

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