Surveillance video was released today showing the 2013 fatal shooting of a 17-year-old black carjacking suspect by a white police officer, but the primary footage is grainy and doesn’t reveal whether the teen turned toward the pursuing officers or was holding anything, as they claimed. Claiming he feared for his life, Fry fired four shots towards Chatman, striking him on the right side of his body and right forearm. Investigators later found the object was an iPhone box.
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In a surprise court filing Wednesday, though, the city abruptly dropped its opposition, citing the ongoing work of the mayor’s Task Force on Police Accountability, which is expected to issue recommendations in March on the city’s long-standing policy of keeping police shooting videos from the public.
Under a court order, the city on November 24 released video showing the fatal shooting of teenager Laquan McDonald in October 2014.
The release of the Chatman video sparked loud protests at the courthouse, who are demanding a reform of the Chicago Police Department and for Mayor Rahm Emanuel to resign amid chatter that he’s mishandled the McDonald shooting.
Chatman’s family attempted to pressure the city of Chicago to release the surveillance video.
“We talk about media trials where it goes beyond just a police case, and I can see that’s a valid concern for the police union and police officers involved, and everyone who has to be involved in selecting a jury”, says Frankie Bailey, a criminologist at the University at Albany in NY.
“I’m very disturbed about the way this has happened”, Gettleman said. Brian. W. Coffman, an attorney for the teen’s mother, says the video shows “someone running away as fast as he can – that’s it”.
In a final report, the authority concluded that complaints that the officer had used excessive force were unfounded. In the footage, the Charger stops at a light, Fry and fellow officer Lou Toth pull alongside him in an unmarked patrol auto, then spring out of the vehicle with guns drawn. Davis was the “only supervisor at IPRA who resist[ed] making requested changes as directed by management in order to reflect the correct finding with respect to [officer-involved shootings]”, according to performance records obtained by WBEZ.
Neither officer was ever charged or disciplined in connection with this shooting. In December, the US Department of Justice announced a civil rights investigation into the Chicago PD.
After Davis’ firing, a new investigator was assigned, who ruled the shooting justifiable, and police accounts given after Chatman died told a story that differed in important points from Davis’ assessment.
In their 2014 depositions in the wrongful death lawsuit, however, both Fry and Toth testified they didn’t see Chatman reach for anything before he bailed from the auto. Coffman says the teen never turned toward the officers and posed no threat.
Chatman’s family had asked that the video in his case be made public, arguing it would counter the city’s narrative that Chatman posed a danger to police.
“The city recognizes, however, we’re in a new world”, Green said.
“Fry didn’t appear to exhaust his options”, Davis said, adding that he was able to review enhanced versions of the shooting footage while evaluating the case for IPRA.
The delay in the video’s release had to do with prosecutors trying to determine whether fellow officers had made false corroborating statements.
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“As he was fleeing, the suspect turned toward the officers, with the dark object in his right hand, causing one officer to open fire”, Hale’s email said. “I’m shot”, according to documents released Friday, a day after the city released video of the shooting.
