In the dashboard and body camera footage from two of the three officers who fired at Paul O'Neal, police are seen angrily kicking and cussing at him after he is on the ground, bleeding from gunshots. At no time is anyone seen providing him with aid before his death.
O’Neal was killed last Thursday after police suspected that he was driving a stolen vehicle and attempted to stop him.
In the footage, one officer is seen jumping out of his police vehicle and shooting at O’Neal as the latter attempted to flee. Another officer then begins shooting at the vehicle, and 11 shots are heard in rapid succession.
An officer then runs in the direction of the vehicle being driven by O’Neal, which had crashed into a police car. The suspect continued to flee on foot while being chased by officers.
The cops climb over a gate behind a home as four shots are heard. As the cop wearing the body camera enters the yard, three officers are seen standing over O’Neal, who is face down on the ground. One officer is standing on the suspect’s leg.
At this point O’Neal is still alive, and the officer is seen grabbing his hand and pulling it behind his back to handcuff him, as blood soaks the back of the victim’s shirt where the bullet entered. The dying man is non-combative and complying with orders.
As O’Neal lay dying, an officer is heard shouting at him, saying, "why did you have to shoot at us?” O’Neal was not armed.
The officers then shake hands and pat each other on the back, one is heard saying, “Now I'm going to get a 30-day suspension."
The footage was screened at the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) headquarters, for O’Neal’s family and several community activists, two hours before being released to the public. The IPRA is leading the investigation into the shooting.
"First and foremost, like all Chicagoans, I am deeply saddened by the death of Paul O'Neal and my heart goes out to his family and friends and to the community that has lost yet another young black man. I want to express my personal commitment to seeing that justice is served and our pursuit of justice here will be steadfast. I applaud Superintendent Johnson for his swift and immediate actions in this incident,” IPRA Administrator Sharon Fairley said in a statement Friday morning.
An attorney representing the O’Neal family, Michael Oppenheimer, filed a lawsuit on Monday, stating that the video proves that the young man’s death was “cold-blooded murder.”
"What I saw was cold-blooded murder," Oppenheimer told CBS, calling the footage "beyond horrific."
"This is amazing to me how this officers come into our neighborhood and treat us like savages," family spokesman Ja'Mal Green said. "If he did steal that car that was for the courts to decide. Instead, the police decided to be the judge and execute him the way they did."
Three officers have been relieved of their duties after a preliminary investigation found they had violated department policy during the incident.
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