Chicago Police Release Videos of Shooting Incident of Unarmed Black Teen Paul O'

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IPRA Chicago(CHICAGO) — Video related to the Chicago Police shooting death of Paul O’Neal, an 18-year-old black man, was released to the public Friday by the city’s Independent Review Authority, which is investigating the incident.

Nine videos recovered from police body and dashboard cameras were released shortly after 11 a.m. local time this morning. They were first made available to O’Neal’s family a couple hours before.

The footage shows officers responding to a report of a stolen Jaguar in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood. A black vehicle is seen speeding by two squad cars on the street of the suburban neighborhood as two officers open fire. Police said O’Neal crashed the Jaguar into two vehicles as they tried to stop him.

Officers then chase after the car, which stops further down the road, and the driver, allegedly O’Neal, can be seen jumping out. Police then pursue the man on foot into the backyard of a nearby home. Multiple gunshots can be heard.

Police said O’Neal was unarmed when he was shot in the back by Chicago police officers on July 28. Two officers opened fire at O’Neal while he was still in the Jaguar, but he was not hit by those shots. Another officer who chased O’Neal after he fled on foot fatally shot the man, police said. The shooting itself, however, was not captured on video.

But the released footage appears to show O’Neal face down on the ground with a bullet wound in his back as officers put his limp hands in cuffs. The officers can be heard cursing at O’Neal.

In the videos, the officers appear to question whether O’Neal fired at them. “He shot back, right?” one asks. “Who was shooting in the alley, was that him?” another adds.

O’Neal’s family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Chicago Police Department and the officers involved in the shooting on Monday.

Chicago Police superintendent Eddie Johnson applauded the release of the videos and vowed to hold individuals accountable for their actions should any wrongdoing be uncovered.

“The shooting of Mr. O’Neal has raised a lot of questions about whether departmental policies were followed,” Johnson said in a statement Friday. “You can expect this department to be open and honest about what we discover and we will work together with our community partners to implement solutions.”

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