Undercover Chicago police officers in regular clothes shot their guns almost 100 times in 41 seconds during a traffic stop. One man died and one officer got hurt. The video was released by a group that makes sure the police are doing their job right.
Five police officers in a special unit in a plain car stopped a SUV driven by Dexter Reed last month because they said he was not wearing a seatbelt. A video of a 26-year-old Black man shows him lowering a car window for a short time and then raising it again. He refused to get out of the car even when more officers arrived, shouted at him, and pointed their weapons at him.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability said they have early evidence that shows Reed shot first and hurt a police officer in Humboldt Park, on the West Side of the city. Four police officers shot back, firing 96 bullets.
The sounds of gunshots didn’t stop even after Reed got out of his car and fell to the ground. COPA shared videos from the police officers’ body cameras, 911 calls, and police reports.
The new videos show more information than what the police first showed last month.
Police Chief Larry Snelling said before that the shooting on March 21 started with a traffic stop and he called it a “shooting back and forth. ”
Relatives are asking questions about the police’s explanation of the shooting, trying to understand why Reed was stopped by the police. Andrew Stroth, a lawyer for the family, said Reed’s mother, sister, uncle, and father watched the video on Tuesday and were very upset. He said they remember the young man as a good basketball player in high school who wanted to be a sports broadcaster.
“I can’t describe how much my family is hurting. I hope that someone out there understands that my brother was loved by his family and had people who cared about him,” said Reed’s sister, Porscha Banks, to reporters. “He was someone very special. ”
Stroth said the police stop was against the law because the officers were not wearing uniforms and didn’t say they were police. He said the family wants the investigation to be done quickly and for the department to follow the court’s plan for change better.
“He won’t come back, but we should try to prevent this from happening to another family,” he said.
On Tuesday, the police spokesperson Thomas Ahern said that the department is working together with the investigation.
“We can’t make a decision about the shooting until we know all the facts and finish the investigation,” he said.
The videos show different views, including the one from the officer who got shot. But it’s not easy to see Reed shooting in the video. A gun was found in the car later.
The police team arrives at the scene and many officers shout at Reed to roll down the window and open the door using bad words.
Then there were loud sounds of gunfire. A man called 911 and said the shooting sounded like the Vietnam War.
Reed gets out of the car and falls to the ground, ending up lying on his stomach with his head by the back passenger wheel and only wearing one shoe. Blood is following into a nearby drain. Video of the car shows a lot of holes from bullets. The other shoe is next to the driver’s door.
The officers shout at Reed to stay still and lift up his hands. They were looking for a gun but couldn’t find one. Reed’s hands were bloody and falling down. They put handcuffs on him while he lies on his stomach and doesn’t move.
The officer says he doesn’t know where the gun is. Later, they use a flashlight to look inside the car and find the weapon on the passenger seat.
“He began to shoot at us,” another officer said.
Later, more police and an ambulance come to the place.
“One officer kept saying that we all were shooting. ”
Mayor Brandon Johnson promised to thoroughly investigate the situation and said that the release of information on Tuesday was a step towards being more open and honest.
“He said at a news conference with COPA and the Cook County state’s attorney’s office that trying to keep information secret or slow it down is old-fashioned and wrong. ” “As a mayor and a father, I am very upset to see another young Black man lose his life during a police interaction. Especially because I am raising a family, including two Black boys in the West Side of Chicago. ”
He said the city doesn’t support shootings against police officers and mentioned that the officer, who is also Black, hurt his wrist but it could have been much worse. If the bullet had gone a little bit in a different direction, Johnson said he would be here “talking about the death of another Black man. ”
The officers were given a 30-day break from their regular duties while COPA and the Cook County state’s attorney’s office investigate them.
Kim Foxx, a legal official, said her office will decide if the police used force for a good reason or if they should be charged with a crime.
“I promise we will keep working hard to find justice, using facts, evidence, and the law as our guide,” she said.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office said that Reed was killed on purpose and that he died from being shot multiple times.
COPA was made in 2016 because the city had to show a video of a police officer shooting a 17-year-old boy. The video showed that what the officers said happened was not true. It looks into cases where police have shot someone.
The police department has to follow certain rules given by the US Justice Department because they found that the police have been treating people of different races unfairly and using too much force, after McDonald died.
The team that checks if the department is following the rules has found that it often doesn’t finish tasks on time. They asked the new superintendent to solve the problems that have been causing slow progress.