UPDATED: May 14, 5:30 p.m.
Staff Inspector Sekou Kinebrew says it happened around 5:45 p.m. An off-duty officer in plain clothes was visiting friends near Seventh and West Porter streets when he heard commotion outside. That’s when they went outside and saw a man throwing bottles on the ground from a recycling bin.
According to Kinebrew, the officer approached the man and told him to stop doing what he was doing. The man, in response, pulled out a pair of scissors.
"The man lunged at the officer and began swinging the pair of scissors at him," Kinebrew explained. "The officer produced his privately owned 9mm semi-automatic firearm and discharged, we believe, four times striking the man three times."
Kinebrew added the man was hit in his wrist, leg, and abdomen. He is currently in critical condition.
According to police, the off-duty officer is from the 17th District and has been on the force three years. The incident is under investigation by the officer-involved shooting unit and Internal Affairs.
The man was later identified as 57-year-old Frederick Middleton. He is charged with simple assault, reckless endangerment, and possession an instrument of crime.