Chicago mayor calls footage of police shooting ‘disturbing’
CHICAGO — Chicago’s mayor said video footage of police shooting and wounding a suspect inside a downtown Chicago train station is “extremely disturbing” and that she supports the interim police superintendent’s request for prosecutors to be sent directly to the scene — an unusual or perhaps unprecedented action in the nation’s third largest city.
After watching what she called the “widely shared footage” of the Friday afternoon shooting inside the Red Line L station, Mayor Lori Lightfoot tweeted that although “one perspective does not depict the entirety of the incident, the video is extremely disturbing and the actions by these officers are deeply concerning.”
“To ensure full transparency and accountability, I support Superintendent (Charlie) Beck’s decision to contact the State’s Attorney due to the potential criminal nature of this incident,” she tweeted.
Deputy Superintendent Barbara West told reporters Friday that the police department was conducting concurrent criminal and administrative investigations into the shooting.
The shooting happened shortly after 4 p.m. Officers who were dispatched to the scene after receiving a call that another officer needed assistance spotted a man jumping from one car to another, which violates a city ordinance. Officers chased and ultimately grabbed the man.
The video shows a male officer lying on top of the suspect at the base of an escalator and struggling to keep him still. The man can be heard saying, “I didn’t do nothing to you,” as the officer on top of him says, “Stop resisting,” a number of times. As they stand up, a female officer appears to try to pepper spray the man’s face before telling the man to show his hands, presumably to allow the other officer to handcuff him.
The man refuses to be handcuffed and as he stands, stun guns that the officers apparently used on him can be seen on the floor. With the man still struggling to get away, the female officer shouts, “Give him your hands,” and a gunshot rings out. As the man flees up the escalator with the officers in pursuit, a second shot is fired out of view of the camera, though it’s unclear which officer fired the shots.
West told reporters that only one of the officers shot the man, striking him twice.
Police have not released the name of the man.
Attorney Gloria Schmidt Rodriguez, who said she has been retained by the man’s family, said he underwent surgery after he was shot in the abdomen and buttocks, and that he will likely need more operations.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability will investigate the shooting, as it does all officer-involved shootings. The officers were placed on administrative duty pending the outcome of the investigations, which is also routine.
Also, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office issued a statement saying it was working with the FBI to investigate the shooting.