Judge orders release of another Chicago police shooting video

On Thursday, a judge released video of the deadly shooting.

They show Chatman jumping out of a vehicle that was reported stolen, running across the street and squeezing between two parked cars as Fry’s partner, Officer Lou Toth, gives chase. Hundreds of pages of police reports were expected to be released by the city Friday.

The city has opposed the release of the video since 2013; however, city attorneys filed a motion withdrawing their previous opposition.

Chicago corporation counsel said that the city is working to update its disclosure policies and that the Emanuel administration is “working to be as transparent as possible”. Coffman said the video’s release would help promote change.

But the footage doesn’t clearly show if Cedrick turned toward the pursuing officers threateningly, or if he was holding something that could have been mistaken for a gun.

Chicago has dealt with three videos recently. According to court records, Chatman stole a Dodge Charger and was eventually boxed in by police near the intersection of East 75th Street and South Jeffrey.

It’s not clear in the video whether the Chatman, who is black, actually turned toward Officer Fry, who is white.

Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Pat Camden attempted to justify the fatal shooting and said Fry had been in fear of his life.

There are no new criminal investigations against the officers. Neither officer has been charged with wrongdoing, and both remain on full-duty status.

Authorities had fought for months to keep the video from being released.

Toth said he moved in to handcuff the suspect while he was on the ground. The object turned out to be a cell phone box. “You’re taught that deadly force is a last resort and that you should do everything in your power to apprehend the person before you use deadly force”. Both are claims made by Officer Kevin Fry, the officer who shot him. “Nothing but an iPhone box was recovered at the scene”.

The decision to release the videos comes with Emanuel and the police department already under pressure in the 2014 fatal police shooting of another teenager.

“You have everything going on in Chicago right now rolled into one case”, Coffman said.

If the judge signs off on the video’s release, Coffman – who has seen the footage – said he would ask that the city release all available videos in their entirety.

Also on Thursday, the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office was due to release autopsy reports in the police shooting on December 26 of black college student Quintonio LeGrier, 19, and his neighbor Bettie Jones, 55, a grandmother of 10.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert Gettleman ruled Thursday allowing the release of the Chatman videos.

Cameras mounted on a traffic signal, at South Shore High School and at a nearby apartment building recorded different angles of the incident.

“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. Police said they thought Chatman had a gun. He fired four shots, hitting Chatman twice.

Chatman’s mother filed a wrongful death suit against the city and the two police officers. For weeks protesters have been demanding he step down over his handling of the 2014 police killing of Laquan McDonald, 17. In Chatman’s case, however, IPRA concluded the officers’ actions were justified because they reasonably believed Chatman was armed at the time. It seemed to contradict Emanuel’s pledge of an era of new transparency. Davis said in an interview last month. The family alleges in its lawsuit that Chatman was unarmed when he was shot and wants the videos to be made public.

Davis, a longtime Chicago police officer, told CNN that he hopes to soon meet with Fairley.