Friends mourn Des Plaines man shot by cops

Tommy Bednarozyk and Christine Grodzik paid their respects to Krzysztof Kaczor Tuesday at a makeshift memorial at the base of a tree along the 200 block of Oxford Road in Des Plaines. That's where he was shot early Monday by Des Plaines police.

Police said the 24-year-old man had been threatening an officer with a long-handled ax in the residential neighborhood.

Kaczor's friends and family members are still reeling from his unexpected death.

"I have known him since 1998," Bednarozyk said. "He was not a troublemaker."

"It's unreal," said Grodzik, Kaczor's housemate. "I can't believe it yet."

Among the items marking the spot where Kaczor fell were a microphone - because he loved to rap - candles, white and pink carnations, red roses, a wilted poinsettia plant and a half-full bottle of scotch.

Bednarozyk placed a full bottle of Heineken beer in the snow - Kaczor's "favorite drink."

While they said they couldn't understand the shooting, Bednarozyk said he did have a temper when he was drinking, and Grodzik said he had been drinking that day.

According to police, officers responded to the 400 block of Washington Street for a report of shots being fired. The call came from Kaczor's home - a few blocks away from where he died.

An officer spotted Kaczor running, carrying the ax on Oxford Road. He got out of his car, drew his gun and ordered Kaczor to drop the ax, police said.

Kaczor didn't heed the warnings, turned toward the officer holding the ax in a threatening manner and approached, according to the police report.

He was shot at least four times after refusing to drop the weapon and died shortly afterward, Des Plaines Police Chief Jim Prandini said.

Kaczor's roommate and friend, Krystian, 27, who declined to give his last name, said Kaczor was a small man, about 5 feet 9, weighing about 125 pounds, and hardly looked menacing. He said he didn't understand why police couldn't have shot to wound.

Police officers aren't taught to wound because it's too hard to hit a limb on a moving person in the split-second police have to act, Prandini said.

Krystian said Kaczor had planned to spend Christmas with Krystian's family and then with his own parents and sister in Elmwood Park. Kaczor's birthday is on Christmas Eve.

"We're going to have a funeral on his birthday," said Krystian, sobbing for his best friend of 11 years whom he met on the first day of school at Foreman High School in Chicago.

Kaczor, who emigrated from Poland in 1999, was a technician for a surveillance and security alarm company and worked 14-hour shifts daily, Krystian said. The two lived in Des Plaines for more than a year.

"We were like family," Krystian said. "If you would need any help, anytime, he was there."

Kaczor's parents couldn't be reached for comment.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Video</h2> <ul class="video"> <!-- Start of Brightcove Player --> <div style="display:none"> </div> <!-- By use of this code snippet, I agree to the Brightcove Publisher T and C found at http://corp.brightcove.com/legal/terms_publisher.cfm. --> <script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript" src="http://admin.brightcove.com/js/BrightcoveExperiences.js"></script> <object id="myExperience58401400001" class="BrightcoveExperience"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /> <param name="width" value="300" /> <param name="height" value="255" /> <param name="playerID" value="18011347001" /> <param name="publisherID" value="1659832549"/> <param name="isVid" value="true" /> <param name="@videoPlayer" value="58401400001" /> </object> <!-- End of Brightcove Player --> </ul> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=345701">Des Plaines cops fatally shoot ax-wielding man <span class="date">[12/21/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>