City To Release Video From Fatal Shooting Of Paul O'Neal
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Eight days after Chicago police officers shot and killed 18-year-old Paul O'Neal, city officials were set to release dashcam and body camera video of what led up to the shooting.
The Independent Police Review Authority said it would be posting the videos online at 11 a.m., but first will be showing the footage to O'Neal's family and their attorney.
The family was expected to review the video at 9 a.m., before speaking to reporters about what they saw.
O'Neal's family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit, alleging police officers effectively "executed" him when they curbed an allegedly stolen vehicle near 73rd and Merrill on July 28.
The confrontation between police and O'Neal happened about 7:30 p.m. that night. Police said O'Neal was spotted driving a stolen Jaguar, and struck a responding squad car and a parked vehicle.
Two officers shot at the Jaguar as it continued heading north on Merrill, and O'Neal then hit another squad car, and bailed out, and a third officer shot him.
Attorney Michael Oppenheimer said O'Neal was unarmed as he ran from the vehicle after police fired shots into it, and was shot in the back of the head as he fled. The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office said O'Neal was shot in the back and have classified the death as a homicide.
"These police officers decided, for whatever reason, they were going to play judge jury and executioner," Oppenheimer said.
Police Supt. Eddie Johnson already has stripped three of the four officers involved in the incident of their powers, saying it appears they violated department policies when they opened fire. All three will remain on administrative duties – without their guns or badges – until both an Internal Affairs investigation and the IPRA probe have been completed.
IPRA has said it hopes to complete its investigation within 60 days.
Police officials have said the fatal shot was not recorded by any of the body cameras or dashboard cameras at the scene. While the cameras of the two officers who fired into the car were working, the body camera of the officer who fatally shot O'Neal was not. Johnson said there is no evidence to suggest any tampering prevented the camera from recording.
"We don't think there was any intent to defeat any systems," Johnson said Tuesday.
The superintendent said there is other video footage of the incident, recorded by the other two officers' body cameras and dashboard cameras from squad cars at the scene.
"There's a lot of footage available from the particular incident, so it's under review of IPRA right now," Johnson said. "Going forward, I don't think you'll find any intentional misconduct."
Bolingbrook police have released video from earlier that night, showing O'Neal and other suspected car thieves at a gas station. The video captured three of the four cars allegedly stolen by O'Neal and others. It does not show a 2002 Jaguar convertible, the car O'Neal ran from when he was shot by police.
