Chicago police released a video on Friday, of officers chasing an unarmed African American teenager who was fatally shot in the back.
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Meanwhile, an autopsy on O’Neal determined that he died from a gunshot wound to the back, according to records from the Cook County medical examiner.
“Horrific” video showing the moments that led to the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager by police in Chicago has been made public.
They carried signs with slogans like “Stop racist police terror” and signs with the name of Paul O’Neal, who was killed July 28.
The case also represents an about-face for city officials who have previously fought to prevent the release of videos of police shootings for as long as possible.
Last year, Chicago was rocked by protests after video showed police shooting a 17-year-old named Laquan McDonald 16 times in October 2014.
The video footage released on Friday shows two officers firing at a stolen vehicle driven by O’Neal after it sped past them, the auto crashing into a police vehicle, and O’Neal running into a backyard where he was shot. Officers pursued O’Neal, shooting at him at least “five times”, according to a police officer. “Think I’m good – bunch of shots”, the officer says.
The three officers who fired their guns during the incident have been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation.
The news conference came the same day that protesters planned a rally and march, which was originally slated to start at the Chicago park where 50 years ago Martin Luther King Jr. called for fair housing but was moved a few blocks away at the request of organizers of a festival related to a newly unveiled King memorial in Marquette Park.
On July 28, Chicago cops shot and killed 18-year-old Paul O’Neal. The footage that is available, moreover, showed the Chicago police taking “street justice into their own hands”, he said.
Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson promised that the officers will be held accountable if they are found to have acted inappropriately. “They decided that they would control this”.
In this frame grab from a body cam provided by the Independent Police Review Authority, Chicago police officers handcuff Paul O’Neal, suspected of stealing a auto, after they fired into the vehicle he was driving and then pursued him through a yard on July 28, 2016, in Chicago.
The video shows an officer getting out of a police SUV patrolling Merrill and almost being clipped by the jaguar, which careened off the SUV as both officers opened fire on the auto. Three officers were stripped of police powers after the department determined they violated policy. One of the videos is posted below the fold. “There are a lot of questions to answer and a lot of work to do to continue to build the trust that is so important between the police and community that we serve”, he said. O’Neal was behind the wheel of a Jaguar at the time of the incident when multiple cop cars chased him down a tree-lined street and shot at him.
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Following widespread outrage over the McDonald video, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel vowed quicker dissemination of videos of police-involved shootings and set guidelines for the release of all police shooting videos within 60 days of an incident.
