Report: Accused Cop Killer Admitted On Video To Pulling Trigger
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The jury in the trial of an accused cop killer saw and heard the defendant admitting, very matter-of-factly, that he fired the fatal shots.
As WBBM Newsradio's Mike Krauser reports, Shawn Gaston, 22, is on trial for the murder of Chicago Police Officer Alejandro Valadez, who was 27 when he was shot to death while working undercover in the 6000 block of South Hermitage Avenue in June 1, 2009.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio's Mike Krauser reports
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On Tuesday, Gaston was seen on videotape admitting that he pulled the trigger and killed Valadez, according to a Chicago Sun-Times account.
Gaston said on tape that he and a friend had just gotten tattoos from "a big fat white dude" and were driving near 60th Street and Hermitage Avenue when someone fired shots at their car, the Sun-Times reported.
Gaston said he went home and got a gun he had hid under a neighbor's porch, and returned, opening fire into a crowd, the newspaper reported.
Valadez, who was on the scene investigating the earlier shooting, was hit twice.
Gaston said in his confession that he had been fighting with someone on the block, the Sun-Times reported.
It didn't take long for police to track down Gaston. He was soon back on his own block, a short walk away at 62nd and Paulina streets, drinking tequila, prosecutors were quoted in the Sun-Times.
Gaston and Kevin Walker, who was driving the car in which Gaston was riding, were arrested about an hour after the shooting. They were also responsible for the original gunfire Valadez was investigating, officials said. Walker and Gaston are both charged with first-degree murder.
Prosecutors said a bullet casing was found stuck on the car that Valadez was in.
At the end of the videotaped confession, Gaston is heard saying he has to "piss like a racehorse," the Sun-Times reported.
Walker still awaits trial in the case, as does a third man, Christopher Harris, who was arrested and charged later.
