A man who was shot in the head by a Chicago police officer inside a Brighton Park bar last year has been acquitted of the most serious charges filed against him.
Fernando Guzman, 38, was found not guilty this week of attempted murder and discharging a firearm toward a peace officer after a jury trial before Judge Ursula Walowski. However, the panel did convict him on two counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.
The shooting unfolded around 12:20 a.m. on October 12, 2024, when officers responded to a “person with a gun” call at a bar in the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue. Witnesses told arriving officers that a man wearing a construction vest had pointed a gun at someone.
When officers confronted Guzman, who reportedly matched the description, they asked if he was armed, officials said. Guzman allegedly displayed a handgun, and one officer tried to disarm him.
In a statement issued hours later, CPD said, “Officers attempted to disarm the offender when he discharged his weapon. An officer returned fire, striking the offender.” And in an initial court filing, prosecutors said Guzman “shot one shot in the direction of” an officer. A second cop at the scene returned fire, striking Guzman in the left side of the head, the filing stated.
But the Civilian Office of Police Accountability used different language five days after the shooting, leaving open the possibility that Guzman did not fire the weapon intentionally: “One of the officers gave verbal commands to drop the weapon and as officers attempted to disarm the individual, the individual’s firearm discharged. One of the officers then returned fire, striking the individual in the head.”
Prosecutors said security cameras inside the bar and the officers’ body-worn cameras captured the encounter. But the footage has not been released publicly because Judge Walowski ordered the city to withhold it while the case was pending.
Guzman has been detained in the Cook County Jail since the night of the shooting. Walowski scheduled a December 15 hearing to handle post-trial motions and determine his sentencing on the remaining weapon convictions.
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