Chicago Police Under Investigation for Suspicious Death
The family of a Chicago North Lawndale man fatally shot by police last week filed a wrongful-death lawsuit Monday against the City of Chicago and the Police Department.
This shooting is the latest in a continuous string of public embarrassments for the Chicago Police Department. Mayor Daley has had to react to the recent rash of deaths and shootings and tasers by instituting a national search for a leader to the department that can restore the public's confidence in knowing that Chicago is, indeed, protected by the nation's finest. Romanucci & Blandin has successfully prosecuted and brought to trial cases where the Chicago Police Department has been accused of misconduct.
The lawsuit alleges Aaron Harrison, 18, was unarmed and running from police officers when he was shot by an officer. Police have said the teen, who had a lengthy arrest record and one drug conviction, was shot once after an officer told him to drop his weapon but instead he pointed a 9mm handgun at them as he ran during a chase. Harrison died of a gunshot wound to his upper left rear shoulder, with the bullet exiting through his neck, the Cook County medical examiner's office said.
The family's lawyer said at least two video cameras near the scene may have captured the shooting, which sparked heated protests in the neighborhood in the days that followed.
Chicago police are reviewing surveillance video taken from a police camera attached to a building in the 1100 block of South Sacramento Boulevard, said police spokeswoman Monique Bond. The camera is about two blocks from the site of the shooting but appears to be in the line of sight. A second video camera on a nearby private building also might have recorded the shooting, but police have not obtained that video yet.
Interim Police Supt. Dana Starks last week made a public plea for witnesses to come forward, saying that many people who had been asked to be interviewed failed to show up. And Bond said detectives have gone back to the scene in the days following the shooting to find witnesses to give statements.
Police said an investigation into the shooting continues. The Office of Professional Standards will make the final determination into whether the officers acted appropriately.
