New Video Shows Chicago Police Officer Shoot Suspect in the Back
[There was a video here]
Just over a week after a video showing a Chicago policeman killing a teenager forced mayor Rahm Emanuel to fire his head of police amidst calls for his own resignation, the city has released dash cam footage of another officer-involved shooting: A 2014 incident that left a 25-year-old man dead.
The video above was shown at a press conference Monday afternoon held by state attorney Anita Alvarez. It shows the man, Ronald Johnson, running away from a group of cops before officer George Hernandez fires five shots at him. According to Alvarez, one bullet entered and lodged into Johnson’s knee, and another went through the right side of his torso and out through his face. Alvarez says the video shows Hernandez fire his weapon but does not show Johnson being hit because he was out of the dash cam’s frame.
Unlike Jason Van Dyke, the officer who faces first degree murder charges in the death of Laquan McDonald, Hernandez will not face any charges for killing Johnson, because Johnson allegedly possessed a weapon and, according to the state, was running in the direction of police officers gathered in an adjacent park. Johnson’s family, which had been vocal in the press in the lead up to the release of the video, alleges that Johnson was unarmed when he was shot.
Also on Monday, the Department of Justice announced that it would be launching a civil rights investigation of the Chicago Police Department focusing on its use of deadly force. Alvarez said in her press conference that the footage of Johnson’s death had been shown to the FBI, which she said chose not to participate in the investigation.