The reports showed LeGrier was shot six times, including once in the chest and twice in the back.
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A federal judge will likely decide today, January 14, whether or not to permit the release of a video showing police shooting 17-year-old Cedrick Chatman in January 2013.
Chicago police officer Kevin Fry fatally shot Chatman Jan. 7, 2013, in broad daylight during a foot chase, according to court records.
The video released Thursday was shot by several cameras and from various angles.
Police have said that Chatman drew what looked like a gun after he jumped out of a Dodge Charger while the family’s attorneys have said that he was running away from officers when he was shot.
The city had opposed release of the video for nearly three years. The public release of the footage followed a reversal by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration. That video raised questions about other police shootings, the system of discipline for officers in Chicago and about other videos the city has opted to keep private. Patton said that Chicago city officials realize that the protective order process is outdated. Her attorney, Brian Coffman, says the teen never turned toward the officers and posed no threat.
“The answer, which is consistent with, and also what I’ve said before, at that point, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the US attorney and the state’s attorney are looking into it, and that’s exactly where it should be so they can get to the bottom of it”, he said. “Who made this decision to all of a sudden change face and why was it made?”
Chicago has dealt with three videos recently. Chatman scoots through parked cars and then toward a nearby intersection. As Fry and Toth pursued on foot, police say, the 5-foot-7, 133-pound Chatman turned toward them.
The Independent Police Review Authority investigated the shooting and determined that Fry did not use excessive force.
The county prosecutors have asked the FBI to investigate the shooting. Neither officer has been charged with wrongdoing, and both remain on full-duty status.
In one case in 2007, Fry and a partner shot a 16-year-old black male in a school alcove after seeing a shiny object around his waist and fearing for their lives. Davis recommended Chicago Police Department fire Fry; instead Davis was sacked shortly thereafter.
Autopsy reports prepared by the Cook County medical examiner’s office say LeGrier was shot in the chest, back, buttock and left arm and two suffered graze wounds. The alleged victim also says a group of people took $400 and even his shoes.
It turned out the teen was carrying a black iPhone box.
“You have everything going on in Chicago right now rolled into one case”, Coffman said. The city initially did not want to release the video, but had a change of course on Wednesday.
Two days before Christmas, the city filed its motion objecting to the videos’ release.
In late December, city lawyers asked the court to withhold the video from the public, arguing that its release could influence the opinions of potential jurors.
It wasn’t clear when the city would release the footage of Cedrick Chatman’s death, but it could happen as early as Thursday, when a judge is likely to lift the protective order that had kept the video from the public.
The city didn’t release footage of that incident, involving 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, until last November. Gettlement said that in the video, it is hard to distinguish “exactly what Mr. Chatman’s position was or what he had in his hand” in the moments before the shooting, The New York Times reported.
“That policy for the city has always existed, which is you don’t do anything to hamper an investigation”, he said at an afternoon news conference. But as protests and commentary around high-profile cases have mounted, the need to fill an information vacuum with video evidence has gained supremacy over the idea that prosecutors have wide discretion to withhold evidence until trial. “(He) should not have taken this young man’s life”, he told CNN. Timestamps show that call was made just a few minutes before the shooting.
“In my view, if you do not have to kill a person, then why would you?” he said. “Today is another dark day in our city”, said Bishop James Dukes.
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Shortly after Emanuel won re-election, Adam Collins, a top aide to the mayor, sent an email to Martin Maloney, who was a police spokesman at the time. “This is what bothers me”.
