The teens wounded in the shooting were black, according to local media reports.
Advertisement
At the time of the video’s release, Chicago police said the officer involved in the shooting was moved off the street and assigned to desk duty. Two of the teens were wounded.
U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon said in a statement that 41-year-old Marco Proano was indicted Thursday on two counts of deprivation of rights after he allegedly used unreasonable force while on duty on December 22, 2013.
Proano open fired because he saw someone trying to flee from the vehicle and he was “worried about the safety of the individual trying to get out of the auto”.
The release doesn’t detail the allegations, but police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said that the indictment stems from an incident captured on dashboard-camera video that was released a year ago by a retired judge who had handled a criminal trial involving one of the teenagers. Proano and other officers at the scene struggled with the teen, Niko Husband, and felt the butt of a gun on the man during the tussle.
On Aug. 16, the Independent Police Review Authority sustained allegations of misconduct against Proano in the shootings.
Each count of the indictment carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. He was given an award for a 2011 incident in which he shot and killed a 19-year-old who he claimed appeared to have taken a woman hostage.
A jury originally awarded Husband’s family with $3.5 million in damages, however a judge overseeing the case later negated the award after it was revealed that jurors, in response to a written question, had said they believed Proano had feared for his life at the time of the shooting.
Although the city obtained a protective order to keep the video of the shooting from being released to the public, retired Cook County Judge Andrew Berman did just that.
One of the teens was taken from a hospital to a police station where he was interrogated while he was “bleeding profusely” from his shoulder, Fiscella said.
The driver ran and a passenger moved into the driver’s seat and threw the auto into reverse, the department said.
Officers fired at the vehicle, striking two of the people inside, Camden said.
A police department spokesman said IPRA’s recommendations are still undergoing legal review within the department. When officers approached the vehicle, a man in the back seat tried to get out, and the driver put the auto in reverse “coming at the officers”, Camden said.
Coffey was sitting in a chair in the 2400 block of East 82nd Street about 9:35 a.m. Wednesday when Vaughns walked up and said “Give me everything you got” as he reached for a gun in his backpack, police said. The officer said he feared the auto would run over him. And earlier this week, a federal grand jury also indicted a former police officer in the greater Chicago region on a similar count.
Advertisement
Last year, the department’s policy was tightened up to bar officers from “firing at or into a moving vehicle when the vehicle is the only force used against the sworn member or another person”.
