Family: Minneapolis man shot by Amtrak officer is paralyzed

CHICAGO (AP) - A Minneapolis man shot in Chicago by an Amtrak police officer is paralyzed and clinging to life, relatives of the man said Friday.

Chad Robertson, 25, was on a layover while heading home by bus from a wedding in Memphis, when he was shot Wednesday outside Chicago's Union Station, according to his sister, Nina Robertson. She said he has been in and out of consciousness and is unable to move or feel anything below his shoulders.

"He opened his eyes at the hospital, and the first thing he said to me was 'Why did they shoot me? I didn't do anything,'" said his sister. "When he found out about his condition from the doctors, he was heartbroken. He just said 'the police ruined my life.'"

Robertson said when her brother and two friends arrived in Chicago the bus driver informed them they couldn't enter the bus station and should go to Union Station to stay warm. There they were confronted by two officers who she said were aggressive and disrespectful. They left the station, inadvertently leaving their luggage behind. When one of her brother's friends retrieved the luggage, the two officers confronted them outside the station, alleging one of the three was smoking marijuana.

One of the officers began a search of the three. It was when the officer put his hands in her brother's pockets that he ran, Robertson said.

"(The officer) yelled 'If you don't stop running, I'm going to shoot you,' and Chad kept running," said attorney Dennis Hopson, who is representing Robertson and his family.

Robertson has no criminal record and was unarmed when he was shot, though he was carrying "an insignificant amount" of marijuana, Hopson said.

Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said Chicago police and the Cook County state's attorney's office are investigating the shooting. According to Magliari, the officers involved in the incident are on administrative assignment.

"No weapon by the offender was located when CPD arrived on scene," said Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi in a statement. "We continue to conduct interviews and upon completion of the investigation, we will present the case to the states attorney's office for prosecutorial review as we do with all cases."