A newly released video shows a Chicago Police officer shooting a teenager in the back while his hands were in the air during a pursuit in May 18.
According to a federal lawsuit filed against the city and the police officer, the 13-year-old, identified as A.G., was unarmed and followed police orders. Before he is shot, officers can be seen chasing the boy near the gas pumps at a Chicago gas station.
The officers then dragged the teenager by his legs and one arm to the side of the gas station. The lawsuit filed by A.G.’s family last month claimed that A.G. had followed the officer’s instructions and that, while he survived, “he has been permanently and catastrophically injured.”
“CPD officers did not offer urgent help to A.G., but instead callously dragged him across the street and then shifted their attention to an undamaged officer who smashed into a sign at the gas station while arriving on site,” wrote the boy’s mother, Cierra Corbitt, in the lawsuit.
A dozen police officers dashed in the opposite direction, toward a patrol car that had collided with a sign. Some officers also jumped out of other cars to assist their coworkers. The child was evacuated, according to CPD officials, to avoid another tragedy caused by a potential gasoline pump explosion.
According to his lawyer, A.G. still has a bullet in his back, a spinal cord injury, and esophageal wounds. He is currently undergoing rehabilitation at Shirley Ryan Ability Lab and learning to walk again. A.G. used to enjoy playing basketball and riding his mountain bike until the May 18 foot chase with CPD.
Authorities allege that he was a passenger in a Honda Accord involved in a carjacking the day before the shooting. According to police, leaped out of the car and fled when he saw the cops.
The driver is yet to be apprehended, and A.G. has not been charged with a crime.
“His wishes are to get healthy, to walk, to play basketball, to ride his bike,” said attorney Andrew M. Stroth.
He continued, “You got yet another Black young person shot in the back in a city that is under a federal consent decree, in a city that has not enacted a new foot pursuit policy that preserves and respects the sanctity of life.”
Body-worn camera footage, according to Dennis Kenney, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, could help determine whether the officer was justified in shooting or believed he was in danger of “death or serious bodily harm.” It “depends on whether or not a reasonable officer would perceive that he or she was at risk of either death or serious bodily harm,” he said.
According to Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown, who spoke to the media two days after the killing, A.G. turned toward the cops before being shot. According to two witnesses, the teen was holding his hands up and following directions.
“‘Put your hands up, put your hands up!’ they said. The boy’s hands were raised in the air. There are others who have seen it as well. I was able to record everything on my phone because his hands were raised. He didn’t have a weapon with him. One eyewitness said, “They shot him for no reason.”
Corbitt claimed that the police officers could have easily captured him instead of shooting him. She is now requesting that the CPD release all video footage from the incident.
“All I care about is my child.” “He might not be able to walk again,” she said. “He’s sleeping there, crying all the time because he wishes he’d stayed in the house that day.”