The Chicago Police Department released video from the fatal shooting of Paul O'Neal, 18, Friday showing officers firing at a moving vehicle. The footage, released to the Chicago Tribune and other outlets via the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) portal, also shows officers handcuffing O'Neal as he lay wounded from a gunshot wound behind a residence.
"It is one of the most horrific things I have ever seen," Michael Oppenheimer, the family's attorney, told the Tribune after seeing the videos. The videos were privately shown to the family of the late O'Neal Friday morning before the public release. The family was reportedly "so distraught" by the contents of the footage that they left the IPRA headquarters without making a public comment.
O'Neal was fatally shot by police July 28 after fleeing a vehicle that had been reported as stolen in Bolingbrook, police say. The vehicle, described as a "Jaguar convertible" reportedly struck two Chicago police vehicles before officers fired at the vehicle. As O’Neal, unarmed, exited the car and attempted to flee the scene, an officer followed behind a home and shot him. According to authorities who spoke to the Tribune, O'Neal died of a "gunshot wound to the back."
The graphic videos, which can be viewed here, shows one officer declaring "I think I shot that motherfucker, man." Speaking to other officers at the scene, he says he thinks he's "good" because he got a "bunch of shots." The fatal shooting itself was not captured in the footage released thus far, despite the fact that the officer who chased and ultimately shot O'Neal was wearing a body camera.
Eddie Johnson, Chicago Police Superintendent, released a statement on the video's release promising that his department will be "guided by the facts" during the duration of their investigation:
Johnson has already stripped the three involved officers of police authority, adding that it "appeared" they directly violated departmental policies. The city's use of force policy, revised in February of last year, strictly bans an officer from firing into a vehicle in instances where the vehicle itself is the only danger to the officer. As the IPRA investigation continues, O'Neal's family is reportedly suing the department.
The Chicago Police Department did not immediately respond to Complex's request for comment.
