Plainclothes Chicago police officers fired nearly 100 gunshots over 41 seconds during a traffic stop that left one man dead and one officer injured, according to graphic video footage a police oversight agency released on Tuesday. Five officers from a tactical unit who were in an unmarked police vehicle surrounded an SUV last month driven by Dexter Reed, allegedly for failing to wear a seatbelt. Video shows the 26-year-old Black man briefly lowering a window and then raising it and refusing to exit the vehicle as more officers arrived, yelled commands and drew weapons.<\/p>\n
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability said preliminary evidence showed Reed fired first, injuring an officer in the Humboldt Park neighbourhood on the city\u2019s West Side. Then four officers returned fire, shooting 96 rounds. The gunshots continued even after \u201cReed exited his vehicle and fell to the ground,\u201d COPA said in releasing the body-worn camera footage, 911 calls and police reports. The videos released offer a fuller perspective than what police initially offered last month.<\/p>\n
Police Superintendent Larry Snelling previously said the shooting on March 21 began with a traffic stop and described it as an \u201cexchange of gunfire.\u201d Family members have questioned authorities\u2019 account of the shooting, looking for answers about why Reed was pulled over. Andrew M. Stroth, an attorney for the family, said Reed\u2019s mother, sister, uncle and father saw the video Tuesday and were emotionally distraught. He said they remember the young man as a talented high school basketball player with ambitions of being a sports broadcaster.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really can\u2019t explain the pain that me and my family is going through, but I just hope there are people out there who understand he was a son, he was a brother, he was an uncle, he had loved ones,\u201d Reed\u2019s sister, Porscha Banks, told reporters. \u201cHe was somebody very important.\u201d Banks and other family members joined a demonstration Tuesday night outside the 11th District Police Station, where protestors demanded the firing of the officers who shot Reed. One person was hospitalised after some of the demonstrators clashed with a heckler, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.<\/p>\n
Stroth called it an unconstitutional police stop with plainclothes officers who did not announce they were police. He said the family wants to see a swift investigation and for the department to better comply with a court-supervised reform plan. \u201cNothing is going to bring Dexter back, but certainly efforts should be taken to make sure this doesn\u2019t happen to another family,\u201d he said. On Tuesday, police spokesperson Thomas Ahern said the department was cooperating with the investigation. \u201cWe cannot make a determination on this shooting until all the facts are known and this investigation has concluded,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The videos show multiple perspectives, including from the officer who was shot. But there isn\u2019t clear footage of Reed shooting. A gun was later recovered from the vehicle. The tactical unit drives up to the scene with multiple officers screaming profanity-laced commands for Reed to first lower the window and then open the door. Then gunshots erupt. A man calling 911 to report the shooting described it as \u201cshooting like they\u2019re having a Vietnam War.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reed exits the vehicle and slumps to the ground, ending up facedown with his head near the rear passenger wheel and wearing only one shoe. Blood trails into a nearby gutter. Footage of the car shows dozens of bullet holes. The other shoe sits just outside the driver\u2019s door. \u201cDon\u2019t move! Don\u2019t move!\u201d the officers scream at Reed, lifting up bloody slumping hands in search of a gun but not finding one. They handcuff him as he remains facedown and unmoving.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know where the gun is,\u201d an officer says. They later use a flashlight to look into the vehicle and locate the weapon on the passenger seat. \u201cHe started shooting at us,\u201d another officer says. Afterward more officers and an ambulance arrive on scene. \u201cAll of us were shooting,\u201d one officer says repeatedly. Mayor Brandon Johnson vowed a full investigation, saying Tuesday\u2019s release was part of an effort to be more transparent. \u201cAttempts to withhold or delay information are mistakes of the past,\u201d he said at a news conference with COPA and the Cook County state\u2019s attorney\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs mayor and as a father, raising a family, including two Black boys on the West Side of Chicago, I\u2019m personally devastated to see yet another young Black man lose his life during an interaction with police.\u201d He said the city doesn\u2019t condone shootings against police officers and noted that the officer, who is also Black, suffered a wrist injury but could have fared far worse. Had the bullet gone a few inches in another direction, Johnson said he would be here \u201ctalking about the death of another Black man.\u201d The officers were placed on 30 days of administrative leave amid the investigations from COPA and the Cook County state\u2019s attorney\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
State\u2019s Attorney Kim Foxx said her office will determine whether the officers\u2019 use of force was warranted or necessitated criminal charges. \u201cLet me assure you that our pursuit of justice will be relentless, guided by the facts, grounded in evidence and the law,\u201d she said. The Cook County medical examiner\u2019s office classified Reed\u2019s death as a homicide and reported that he died of \u201cmultiple\u201d gunshot wounds.<\/p>\n
COPA was created in 2016 after the city was forced to release dashcam video of then-officer Jason Van Dyke shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, contradicting officers\u2019 account that the teen had lunged at police with a knife. Its responsibilities include investigations of shootings by police. The police department has been under a consent decree since 2019, handed down after the US Justice Department found a long history of racial bias and excessive use of force following McDonald\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
The independent monitoring team overseeing the department\u2019s compliance has repeatedly found it falling behind on deadlines and specific goals and last year called on Snelling as the incoming superintendent to \u201caddress challenges that have disproportionately delayed progress.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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