After allegedly shooting a Chicago police officer to death on a Gage Park playground, Steven Montano begged for police to kill him too, the officer’s partner testified Wednesday.
“He begins to walk toward me and says, ‘Kill me,’” Officer Miguel Enciso told jurors. “He begins to beg me to kill him.”
The trial for Montano, the man accused of killing Officer Andres Vasquez Lasso, resumed Wednesday with a jury viewing body camera footage from the deceased officer’s partner.
On the afternoon of March 1, 2023, Vasquez Lasso and his partner, Enciso, were responding to a domestic incident when they spotted a possible suspect running toward an elementary school.
Vasquez Lasso jumped out of their squad car and ran after the man, Enciso testified Wednesday. Moments later, Enciso said he heard gunshots.
When Enciso arrived at the playground, he saw Vasquez Lasso on the ground, bleeding from his head, and Montano seated about 15 feet away, with a gun nearby.
Enciso was able to grab the gun and instructed Montano to stay on the ground, he said. But instead, Montano got up and began walking toward Enciso and Vasquez Lasso, Enciso testified.
Montano continued ignoring commands, according to Enciso, so the officer holstered one weapon, pulled out a taser, and shocked the then-18-year-old, bringing him to the ground.
“He told me to kill him, I told him to shut the f- – – up,” Enciso told jurors Wednesday.
“He [Montano] said, ‘You shut the f- – – up b- – – -, that’s why I killed your b- – – – ass boy.”
Vasquez Lasso’s mother stepped out of the courtroom as body camera footage of the encounter played.
The afternoon of March 1, 2023, Montano and his then 37-year-old girlfriend, Linda Perea, were arguing when he charged at her and told her he had a gun, Perea testified Tuesday.
She called 911 and reported that Montano was armed, but he hung up on dispatchers and threw away the phone, she said.
When officers arrived, Montano jumped from a window into a gangway and ran toward an alley, carrying what appeared to be a gun, according to prosecutors.
Vasquez Lasso arrived as backup and spotted Montano running toward Sawyer Elementary School. Vasquez Lasso jumped from his car and chased after, repeatedly ordering Montano to stop, prosecutors said.
As Montano reached a fenced playground area, he suddenly turned and pointed a gun at Vasquez Lasso, prosecutors said.
He fired five times, hitting Vasquez Lasso in his head, arm and leg, prosecutors said. The officer fired twice, hitting Montano in the face.
Officer Saul Canteria, a friend of Vasquez Lasso, was also working in the Chicago Lawn district that afternoon. Canteria and Vasquez Lasso met at lunch on their first day at the Chicago Police Academy five years earlier.
Fighting through tears, Canteria told jurors he was about a block from the school when he heard a 10-1, or emergency call, read over the radio.
When he arrived on the scene, Canteria said he only saw Montano and ran to help Enciso place him in handcuffs.
Enciso began to yell out, “Get in the car, get in the car, get him to the hospital!”
It was then that Canteria noticed the officer down.
“Who did you recognize him to be?” Assistant State’s Attorney Kevin Nolan asked Canteria Wednesday.
“My friend,” Canteria said, struggling to speak. “My friend Andres.”
“What did you do?” Nolan asked.
“Screamed,” Canteria said.
Canteria and fellow officers placed Vasquez Lasso in a squad car and rushed him to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he later died.
Vasquez Lasso is one of eight officers killed in line-of-duty shootings since 2018, according to the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation.
The 32-year-old personified the American dream, according to fellow officers. He came to the United States from Colombia at the age of 18, learned English and joined the Chicago Police Department at 27.
Montano’s defense has called the shooting an “extremely tragic situation” that should have never happened.
They claim the then-18-year-old had trouble in school, was separated from his parents, and was wary of police. That afternoon, Montano’s attorneys said he had a “most unfortunate reaction,” but that he did not commit first-degree murder.
Montano’s trial is expected to last through the rest of the week.