Video appears to show Chicago Police officer pointing gun during street takeover
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A controversial video shows a Chicago Police officer appearing to point a gun out the window while responding to a street takeover near Midway International Airport on the city's Southwest Side this week.
Witnesses who spoke with CBS News Chicago claimed no one at the takeover was threatening the police in any way. They said everyone ran because they thought they were going to get shot.
Video taken Sunday night into Monday morning showed a Chicago Police officer pulling up to disperse a teen takeover—while appearing to point their gun out a half-open window in their police vehicle.
"Everyone's enjoying themselves—you know? Everybody just goes and enjoys themselves. They don't really look for trouble—nothing like that," said one witness. "Everyone wants to take videos of the cars, takes pictures, et cetera and then keep it moving—and not cause no harm."
The witness explained what they saw happen, under the promise of anonymity.
"You're a police officer, so you should know how to act," thsaid. "That's the reason you got the training they gave you, you know, so you know how to act when you pull up to certain scenes like that."
In exclusive drone video, another angle of the event shows tire marks from where cars had been doing donuts. Officers are seen on the ground, seemingly trying to disperse the cars near 59th Street and Pulaski Road.
"She could have easily have just shot at somebody just by pointing that gun out, and got somebody hit for no reason," said the witness.
This was not the first time police have been called to such a scene. In Chicago, drifting is illegal—punishable by a tow and a possible fine.
CBS News Chicago asked Mylan Masson, who spent two decades as the director of law enforcement training for the State of Minnesota, what would have warranted an officer pointing a firearm in such a fashion.
"A gun, or if I knew that there were a lot of weapons involved, I would wait for backup and get more people there. You just can't handle a crowd that large with one person with one weapon—it's just impossible."
Chicago's Civilian Office of Police Accountability said it was notified of the incident by the CPD Bureau of Internal Affairs, but would not provide any other details while the investigation is ongoing.
The identity of the officer is not known.