New video shows Chicago police shooting that killed stabbing suspect, injured another man
CHICAGO (CBS) – New video released by Chicago's Civilian Office of Police Accountability on Tuesday shows the police shooting of a stabbing suspect in May on the city's West Side in which the suspect was killed and another man was critically wounded.
Chicago police responded to a 911 call describing a fight between two men in the South Austin neighborhood on Cicero Avenue. One caller warned a man had a knife on him.
Pod camera video shows police pull up with their lights and sirens on. A man with a backpack seemed to wave them down before officers got out of their car and the men started fighting.
First, one person attacked another. Then, another man pulled the person being attacked out of the way. The person on top of the other man had a knife on him.
Body camera footage showed police getting out of their car and witnessing the fight. Officers fired at the person they said had a knife. The attacker, identified as 35-year-old Tracey Watson, later died.
The person who was being attacked at the time the officers opened fire was also shot and taken to the hospital in critical condition.
CBS News Chicago asked an expert if such a level of force was necessary, considering both men were shot.
"There is a right that police have to use force, even deadly force, not just to protect themselves, but to protect others," said David A. Harris, a professor of law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. "There will be a question about whether there was any alternative to using deadly force, but the central fact here is that the police were witnessing the use of deadly force on another person with a knife."
Harris said it was difficult to make out in the video what kind of weapon the attacker had. When asked if the force officers used was necessary, Harris added, "They don't have to be correct. They just have to be reasonable in what they do."
The Chicago Police Department referred questions to COPA. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for their recommendations for the officers involved based on its findings in the case. COPA said the evidence it released on Tuesday is a critical part of its investigation, which is ongoing.
