Video Released of Cops Shooting 17-Year-Old Cedrick Chatman

A lawyer for the family of a black carjacking suspect fatally shot by a white Chicago police officer in 2013 hopes newly released video of the shooting will help prompt a reopening of a criminal investigation against police.

The videos show the killing of Cedrick Chatman, 17, in January 2013 and have been sealed under a protective order while the shooting is being investigated. Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration and the police force have come under intense scrutiny in recent months over police shootings and cases of alleged misconduct. Chicago police said Chatman was carrying a box that officers mistook for a gun, and that he turned at them before he was shot.

Investigators later revealed that the object Chatman was holding was an Iphone box. An officer stands with one foot on Chatman before emergency crews arrive.

The Chicago Tribune has reported there is video from a police surveillance camera as well as from cameras outside a convenience store and near South Shore High School. “…Like this is my kill”, Coffman said. The footage then reveals a motionless Chatman lying on the street.

“These cases should not be tried in the press…” “I’d like to hear his story”, she told reporters at a news conference.

City attorneys, until Wednesday, fought to keep it under seal on grounds its release could taint any jury pool should the civil case go to trial. Emanuel apologized for the shooting and announced a “police accountability task force” to review the department.

Footage made public Thursday doesn’t clearly show if Cedrick Chatman turned threateningly toward officers chasing him.

“As he was fleeing, the suspect turned toward the officers, with the dark object in his right hand, causing one officer to open fire”, Hale’s email said.

In his deposition, Toth said the officers had stopped the vehicle Chatman was in after a radio report of a carjacking in progress, saying both officers drew their weapons immediately because they suspected the auto of involvement in a serious crime.

“Mr. Chatman is running away from the police”.

Attorneys for the teen’s family, who have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city, say the videos contradict the officer’s statements.

A federal judge made a decision to allow the release of another Chicago police shooting Thursday.

In ordering the videos’ release on Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Robert Gettleman indicated Fry might have put his partner’s life in danger, saying Toth was running so close to the teen when shots rang out “you might say he was in the line of fire”.

Chatman’s family claims in their lawsuit that the teen was running with his back to the officers and was about to turn a corner when he was shot.

“I’m very disturbed at the way this happened”, he said. Three months after the shooting, State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez determined no charges would be filed against the officers.

Also on Thursday, the Cook County Medical Examiner released autopsy reports in the December 26 police shooting of black college student Quintonio LeGrier, 19, and his neighbor Bettie Jones, 55. The five-member panel was asked to, among other things, review how to release potentially explosive videos and establish greater oversight over officers with multiple complaints against them. Gettlemen said that wasn’t true: “It’s clear to me who fired the shots”. Officer Jason Van Dyke has been charged with first-degree murder in that case.