City To Release 2013 Videos Of Police Fatally Shooting Cedrick Chatman

Fry’s partner, officer Lou Toth, was chasing Chatman, but Fry said in his deposition that he opened fire after seeing the teen turn slightly toward them. Chicago police said Chatman was carrying a box that officers mistook for a gun, and that he turned at them before he was shot.

The city of Chicago earlier this week released surveillance videos that showed the officer-involved shooting of Chatman.

Questions about the Chatman video follow the November 24 release of a video showing a white officer fatally shooting black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has faced increased criticism for the city’s handling of police shootings and last weekend city officials announced an independent review of how civil rights suits are handled by the city.

After court, Brian Coffman, who represents Chatman’s family, said the family was suspicious of the timing of the city’s about-face.

City attorney Jonathan Green told U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman Thursday that the legal basis for withholding videos remains sound.

Toth’s partner, Officer Kevin Fry, can be seen trailing farther back, aiming his gun at Chatman from a crosswalk and firing as the teen began rounding the corner in front of a bodega. 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. “We recognize the policy needs to be updated, and while we await guidance from the Task Force on Police Accountability, we are working to be as transparent as possible”. Giacalone said the video shows the shooting was “a awful incident”, which is why city officials kept it secret “for so long”.

Chatman was unarmed, and it was later shown that he was holding a black iPhone box, though the guideline states that police only need to “believe” the suspect can harm someone in order to pull the trigger. Both officers remain on-duty and have not been charged with any wrongdoing. An officer stands with one foot on Chatman before emergency crews arrive. Chatman scoots through parked cars and then toward a nearby intersection.

The surveillance videos, according to attorneys for the Chatman family, contradict the police account of the incident. His supervisors would overrule his decision, and Davis was subsequently fired from IPRA. Police said Jones was shot by accident. “I think those are necessary things that will help, hopefully, to save lives”.

The detail of Chatman’s last words was included in hundreds of pages of investigative records released by the city Friday that laid out how Chatman’s suspected involvement in a violent robbery and carjacking ended with his fatal shooting less than a mile away. Coffman added that the video will also show handcuffing Toth and stepping on the teen as he lay bleeding on the street.

McDonald and Chatman’s deaths have spurred numerous protests in the city, including many organized by Black Lives Matter activists fighting for reform and the end of what they see as institutionalized racism in Chicago’s police department and city government. Davis, a former longtime Chicago police officer, has filed a wrongful-termination lawsuit against the review authority.

“Cedrick was just running as the shots were fired”, Davis said. “From our point of view, it’s very clear Mr. Chatman is running as fast as he can”, Coffman said at a Thursday morning press conference.

Also per the Times, a final report concluded that claims of the officers using unnecessary force were unfounded.