James Foster/For the Sun-Times
Members of the Chicago Police Board voted Thursday to fire a troubled officer who shot his close friend while off-duty and then lied about what happened.
In the 8-0 vote, the Police Board ruled that Officer Patrick Kelly “pulled the trigger” in a shooting over a decade ago that left his friend Michael LaPorta permanently disabled.
Kelly was off-duty when he and LaPorta hit a pair of bars and returned to his home in the early morning hours of Jan. 12, 2010, the board said in a written ruling. LaPorta testified that an argument then arose over Kelly “yelling at and hitting his dog.” The board ruled that Kelly ultimately fired his service weapon, striking LaPorta in the head.