The Independent Police Review Authority, which investigates police shootings, cleared the officer who shot Chatman of any wrongdoing.
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Supervising investigator Lorenzo Davis, a 24-year veteran of the Chicago police force, disagreed with that decision and called Thursday’s video release a “vindication”.
“Mr. Chatman is running away from the police”. “I’d like to hear his story”, she told reporters at a news conference.
Alvarez has been under criticism for her office’s handling of alleged police misconduct cases.
Attorneys for Chatman’s family have said the videos contradict statements from police that Chatman had turned and pointed a dark object at police as he ran, prompting Fry to fire in fear of his life and that of his partner.
“You see him running away from the officers as fast as he possibly could – he never even begins to turn”, said Chatman family attorney Brian Coffman.
He confirmed there were no pending criminal investigations against the two officers in the Chatman shooting. With cars waiting at the light and people strolling down the sidewalk, Officer Kevin Fry took a shooting stance in the middle of the street and unloaded four shots, fatally striking the teen in the side… The camera then pans right and shows Toth crouching over Chatman.
Davis is now suing the city for wrongful termination.
“It is a political move to save face”, Coffman said.
The city has been embroiled in weeks of protests following the court-ordered release of police video in November that showed the 2014 shooting death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. Less than 10 seconds elapses from the time Chatman jumped out of the vehicle to the fatal shots. Investigators later determined it was an iPhone box.
The video’s release comes at a time when Chicago city officials are facing increased public pressure and questions for how they handle police shootings.
Officer Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder as the city released the video.
“I’m very disturbed at the way this happened”, he said.
The release is part of a lawsuit Chatman’s family filed against the city. After less than a half-hour of deliberating in private, the committeemen announced they were backing Kim Foxx, a former chief aide to the county board president.
Thursday morning, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman ordered the release of video footage in another case that shows police fatally shooting an unarmed black teenager.
The judge lifted a protective order that barred the release after the city dropped its objections.
Following several high-profile police shootings, Mayor Rahm Emanuel in December promised “a major overhaul” of the Chicago Police Department’s “use of force” policy.
Two days before Christmas, the city filed its motion objecting to the videos’ release.
An officer killed Chatman on January 7, 2013, during a foot chase. Chicago police said Chatman was carrying a box that officers mistook for a gun, and that he turned at them before he was shot. He says the city has to “root out the cancer” of police abuse as it deals with deadly violence on Chicago streets, noting the impact on black men in particular.
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According to the police account of the shooting, Chatman ditched a stolen auto and ran from the two officers. But he also said calculations about when to release footage has changed in the era of cellphone and security cameras. Then Toth places his right boot on top of Chatman.
