Chicago Police Officer Sheldon Thrasher fired over 2018 shooting that killed Maurice Granton Jr.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Chicago Police officer will be fired for a deadly shooting four years ago.
Officer Sheldon Thrasher shot and killed Maurice Granton Jr., 24, during a foot chase in Bronzeville on June 6, 2018.
In August of last year, Police Supt. David Brown filed disciplinary charges against Thrasher with the Chicago Police Board, accusing him of violating multiple department rules when he shot Granton Jr. – including unlawful or unnecessary use of a weapon, incompetency or inefficiency in the performance of duty, disobeying an order or directive, and bringing discredit to the department.
Thrasher shot Granton near 47th Street and Prairie Avenue while Granton was trying to climb a fence as he was running away from police. An autopsy determined he died of a gunshot wound to the back, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
At the time, police said an earlier video released to the public shows Granton armed with a gun before the chase. The department also distributed a picture of a gun officers recovered at the scene.
However, Granton's family has said he was not armed when he was shot.
"My son was running away. Whatever my son was doing was, he's not a person who would have an armed confrontation with the police. This was not justified use of force," Granton's father, Maurice Granton Sr. said after the Civilian Office of Police Accountability released video of the shooting in July 2018.
According to the disciplinary charges filed against Thrasher, the shooting "was not necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm from an imminent threat" to the officer or anyone else. Thrasher also is accused of failing to activate his body camera until after he had fired his weapon.
The Police Board agreed and voted unanimously to terminate Thrasher.
Granton's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city in 2018.