Cop distracts teen mugger then shoots him dead

An off-duty US cop used a diversionary tactic to quickly draw a gun and shoot a teen mugger dead in a botched robbery caught on camera.

The unnamed police sergeant was filling up his car at a Chicago petrol station on Monday night when 16-year-old Deonta Mackey approached him with two accomplices and asked for his valuables.

The teen then pointed a gun at the plain-clothes officer, unaware his intended victim was also concealing a deadly weapon.

What the 19-year policeman did next has been described as a textbook response to the life-and-death encounter by other Chicago police officers.

"The way he responded was so amazing," said Cook County sheriff Tom Dart.

"It was almost out of a stop-action frame movie where he had his wits about him as a gun is being put on him."

The footage shows the officer fumbling in his pocket with his left hand before quickly pulling a gun out with the other hand, firing at the robber and hitting him in the head.

The officer then assumes a defensive position as the other teens scatter.

Mackey later died at the scene and police are hunting for his accomplices.

Sources: Chicago Tribune, ABC7
Author: Matthew Henry. Approving editor: Martin Zavan.