'Possible Criminal Charges' After Police Shoot Man In CTA Station
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The FBI is part of the team looking into a police shooting at the Grand Red Line station Friday. The Cook County State's Attorney's Office said it is considering "possible criminal charges" after a Chicago police officer shot a man inside the Grand station.
CBS 2's Marissa Parra sat down with CBS 2 legal analyst Irv Miller to examine what video of the shooting does and does not show.
The struggle between the man and two officers ended in gunfire. Two gunshots can be heard on the video, which lasts four minutes and 37 seconds.
"You can start to see passengers coming in through this area, which should put the officers on notice that it's dangerous to fire a weapon," Miller said. "There is no question that this individual was resisting arrest."
Officers can be heard telling the man to stop 13 times.
"He should have complied," Miller said. "He did not."
The male officers says, "Shoot him." The female officer sprays the man on the ground with what appears to be mace. The officers try tasing him.
"Put your f****** hands down. Give him your hands," the female officer can be heard saying.
Miller has questions on what she did next and whether she was justified in pulling out her gun in the first place, let alone pulling the trigger.
"If the officers believe he committed a felony and he was fleeing, and they felt he, they, civilians were in danger, they would have a right to shoot him," he said.
Chicago police say the arrest in progress was for moving between train cars, which is a city code violation that carries a $300 fine.
"The problem is we don't know what happened prior to this that got the attention of theses officers in order to do this take down," Miller said.
This brings more questions that can only be answered with witness accounts or other videos with a different perspective, such as body cameras or CTA cameras.
"If he's just running away and he's shot in the back, that's going to b e a big problem for these officers," Miller said. "If that additional video shows he's turning towards the officers, maybe reaching for his pocket at the same time, the officers are going to be justified in this shooting."
But from what is visible Miller said, "I think these officers encountered a situation that got well out of hand."
Both officers involved have been taken out of the field and are on administrative duty for the entirety of the investigation.
