An off-duty Chicago police officer shot and killed a man in west suburban Maywood Saturday after the officer crashed his motorcycle trying to avoid running into the man's daughter, according to officials.



The officer was on a northbound motorcycle heading home about 10 p.m. after his shift in a West Side police station and saw a 4-year-old girl dart into the street in the 1100 block of South 1st Avenue, authorities said.



The officer ditched his bike but the bike hit the child and her 18-year-old cousin. The girl's father, 26-year-old Christopher Middleton, approached the officer yelling and screaming, authorities said. He was inside a nearby restaurant when the accident happened, said Larry Shapiro, a spokesman for the village of Maywood.



The officer identified himself, said Shapiro and Pat Camden, Fraternal Order of Police spokesman. Camden said the officer told Middleton to calm down.



Middleton said he "didn't give a (expletive)" and punched the officer in the face, authorities said. Another person hit the officer in the back of the head.



The girl's 18-year-old cousin, who ran into the street after the girl and was holding her hand when she was hit, also kicked the officer while he was on the ground, Shapiro said.



The officer removed his weapon and fired once, hitting Middleton in the groin, Shapiro said. Camden said the officer felt he was near losing consciousness and fired at Middleton in defense of his life.



Tanya Jones, who identified herself as Middleton's fiancee and the mother of the 4-year-old girl, said she and Middleton had been visiting his family in Maywood when he decided to dine at a restaurant nearby.



She said she came outside after the fight had begun and saw both men trying to get up off the ground when the officer shot Middleton.



"Chris asked him, 'Why did you shoot me, why did you shoot me,' " Jones said.



The officer was still pointing the gun towards Middleton, who was on the ground at the time, when Jones said she ran towards him and told him, "Please don't shoot him no more."



Then Jones laid on top of Middleton with her back up and dialed 911, she said.



"I saw him take his last breath," said Jones. "He was a father trying to protect his daughter. He was never a violent person."



Middleton died at Loyola University Medical Center just before 10:30 p.m., a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner's office said. He lived in the 500 block of South 2nd Avenue in Maywood, the spokesman said. The 18-year-old is being held for questioning, Shapiro said.



The 4-year-old girl was taken to Loyola hospital for observation with bruises and contusions, Camden and Shapiro said. Camden said the officer's decision to bail from the bike prevented a head-on collision.



The officer is at Loyola hospital with bruises and also was held overnight for observation, Shapiro said. Camden said the officer dislocated a shoulder and may have had broken bones but Shapiro said that wasn't accurate.



Larry Merritt, a spokesman for the Independent Police Review Authority, said his preliminary understanding of the incident matched Camden's.



Middleton was a dedicated father who spent a lot of time with his kids and their mother, said Jones and Middleton's sister, Tina Middleton.



"He was just telling me that he was riding around with the mother of his kids," said Tina Middleton, who lives in Joliet. He was a factory worker in Elgin who had recently lost his job, said Jones.



Jones and Middleton, who had been together for more than seven years, also had a 6-year-old son and a baby girl on the way, Jones said. The two were preparing to go school shopping for their kids next week. Jones, who is five months pregnant, added that they were planning to get married next weekend and hoped to use an upcoming check to buy rings.



"He wanted to do that before we had this child, because we were getting our lives together with God and we were trying to do the right thing and then this happened," Jones said.



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