Investigators Gathering Video In Probe Of Fatal Police Shooting Of Zion Teen
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It could be another week or two before an investigation is completed in the death of a 17-year-old boy who was shot by a Zion police officer earlier this month.
Lake County Major Crimes Task Force Cmdr. George Filenko said investigators were chasing down some 50 leads into the circumstances surrounding the death of Justus Howell of Waukegan.
Zion police have said an officer shot Howell twice in the back, after he allegedly ran down a street with a gun he'd stolen from another man.
Howell's family has questioned whether he was armed.
Filenko said an outside expert has been trying to enhance video collected from nearby surveillance cameras, as well as police squad car video from April 4.
"I understand that there was some discussion publicly about some kind of a handheld video from a cell phone. We've yet to have anybody produce that, or contact us, and at this point we're going to assume that that doesn't exist, unless it does show up," he said.
Filenko said he was providing an update of the investigation to keep the public aware of what's going on.
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The commander said the task force is keeping in consistent contact with the FBI's Civil Rights Division and that, once the investigation is complete, all evidence will be turned over to the FBI. However, the evidence first will be presented to the Lake County State's Attorney's Office to determine if police acted properly.
Filenko said final autopsy results came in from the Lake County Coroner's office this week, but detectives were waiting on other evidence sent to the crime lab.
