COPA Releases Video Of Officer Firing Shots, Pickup Truck Smoking Following Shooting Witnessed By CPD That Left Man Dead In North Austin
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Civilian Office of Police Accountability on Wednesday released video and other materials from a December incident in the North Austin neighborhood in which an officer fired shots.
The officer fired shots after police witnessed a shooting that wound up leaving a man dead.
As CBS 2's Marie Saavedra reported, the sequence of events also involved a smoking pickup truck in high gear, spinning its wheel, and police in a precarious position - was the person inside out to harm them? And how could they stop the truck?
COPA said around noon Dec. 18, officers were on patrol when they saw two men get into a fight in the 1500 block of North Laramie Avenue, at Le Moyne Street. One of the men, who was driving in his vehicle, sped up and nearly struck the other, police said.
The vehicle crashed, and the man who was almost hit fired his gun into the car and shot the driver, police said.
The 27-year-old victim was shot multiple times in the head. Officers rendered first aid while waiting for paramedics, and the victim was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition. The man later died of his injuries, police said.
Chicago Police Chief of Patrol Brian McDermott said at the time that one of the officers who witnessed the shooting opened fire on the gunman in an attempt to defend the victim. The officer fired three shots, but it was not clear if he hit the shooter.
Video shows an officer driving up and opening the door of his squad car and yelling, "Hey, drop the gun!" and firing the shots.
The video, from the shooting officer's body camera, goes on to show the crashed Dodge Ram pickup truck that the man who was shot dead was driving. It was seen with its back wheels spinning as smoke spews out.
Officers at the scene express worry that the pickup truck might blow up, and one of them says it did.
Officers go on to search alleys and gangways for the gunman, but they don't find him.
Meanwhile, the pickup truck stopped smoking long enough that police could finally reach the driver.
COPA said the investigation into the incident continued late Wednesday. Any witnesses or anyone with information was asked to contact COPA at (312) 746-3609 or go to chicagocopa.org.
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