Police Officer Investigated For Killing Unarmed Man
UPDATED 12/06/10 9:55 a.m.
CHICAGO (CBS/WBBM) -- A Chicago Police officer is under investigation for shooting and killing an unarmed man, after he allegedly refused to take his hands out of his coat.
The incident happened Saturday night in the 8100 block of South Ashland Avenue. Ontario Billups, 30, of the 6600 block of South Seeley Avenue, was pronounced dead at 10:46 p.m. Saturday, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
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Gresham District tactical officers were conducting surveillance on Ashland Avenue, where they believed a drug deal was going on. The officers noticed a suspicious vehicle.
When the officers approached the vehicle and announced their presence, they found Billups inside the vehicle concealing his hands inside a jacket, police said. Billups refused to remove his hands from the jacket despite "numerous demands" from the officers.
When Billups exited the vehicle, police say he made "aggressive movements" and that an officer fired because she was in fear of her life.
Billups' family said he was "executed" by police.
"I don't believe that story," Ontario Billups' sister, Angie, said of the police department's account. She says she believes police are saying what they need to say to justify the shooting of an unarmed man.
Added another sister, Trevia Jones-Gaines: "He had no thoughts of violence in him. This is why I know that the police had to execute him. Because my brother – I can hear him talking to me right now. And if the police asked him to take his hands out of his pocket, my brother would have done it."
"He was definitely executed," said a third sister, Taniki Williams. "This is how you execute people. Unarmed."
Billups -- known to pals as ''Long Long'' because of his lanky 6-2 frame -- had a felony drug conviction for dealing cocaine in 1999 and was sentenced to seven years behind bars after pleading guilty to attempted murder in 2003, records show.
But relatives said he had recently earned his G.E.D., was trying to turn his life around and wouldn't have threatened a cop. One of 17 brothers and sisters, he had worked on a garbage truck in Jackson, Miss., but was unemployed at the time of his death, his family said.
Police Supt. Jody Weis was not taking sides over the weekend.
"Officers have to make split-second decisions and action always beats reaction. So what you have to look at is the totality of the circumstances, which is being done right now by the Independent Police Review Authority," Weis said.
The anonymous Chicago Police officer behind the Second City Cop blog wrote that people need to be taught about what they need to do in an interaction with a police officer.
"It's probably time for the FOP and others to educate the public about what is expected of them on traffic stops and the like," the blog said. "It's also far past time for some sort of public relations campaign to let everyone know that police aren't required to 'see a weapon' or 'take the first bullet' to lawfully use deadly force."
Weis cautioned people not to draw a negative conclusion before the investigation is complete.
"I've never met a police officer or a soldier who wakes up and thinks, 'I hope I get to kill someone today.' That just doesn't happen," he said. "They react to what they see on the street, and they have less than a second, many times, to make that decision."
