Five Chicago police officers fired nearly 100 shots at a suspect in less than a minute after the man opened fire on them during a traffic stop on March 21, according to a report from the city’s civilian oversight office. .
The officers involved in the incident alleged that they stopped the African-American driver Dexter Reed Jr., who was detained on suspicion that he was not wearing a seat belt.
During the incident, an officer was shot in the wrist after Reed appeared to initiate an exchange of gunfire, the report has said. The driver, 26, was pronounced dead at a hospital, and a gun was recovered from the front passenger seat.
The board, which reviews every police shooting in Chicago, has released police body camera video along with its report, showing the driver disobeying officers’ orders to open the vehicle door and not raise the door. window.
“Review of video footage and initial reports appear to confirm that Mr. Reed fired first, striking the officer, and four officers returned fire. Available preliminary evidence also confirms that officers returned fire approximately 96 times over a period of time. of 41 seconds, even after Mr. Reed exited his vehicle and fell to the ground,” the report states.
In a briefing Tuesday, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson mourned the loss of another Black man during an encounter with police but refrained from passing judgment on the shooting, saying the release of the video has been an attempt to ensure that the investigation was transparent.
“As Mayor and as a father raising a family, including two Black children on Chicago’s West Side, I am personally devastated to see another young Black man lose his life during an interaction with police,” Mayor Johnson said.
This event will likely reopen the national debate on the use of excessive force by law enforcement against African-Americans.
