Gruesome Videos Show Moments Before And After Police Shot Paul O'Neal In The Back
By aaroncynic in News on Aug 5, 2016 4:55PM
Chicago police Friday released graphic and disturbing video of some of the moments surrounding the death of Paul O’Neal, an 18 year old African American man they shot and killed eight days ago on the city’s South Side.
Family members of O’Neal, who viewed some of the video today at the Independent Police Review Authority, was so distraught they left without speaking to press.
“The mother broke down, the daughter broke down,” said community activist Ja’Mal Green, who spoke on behalf of the family at a morning press conference outside IPRA headquarters alongside their lawyer, Michael Oppenheimer. “She can’t believe they did this. Never thought she would be in this situation…maybe he got caught up in the wrong things but that’s for the courts to decide.”
Warning: graphic video
Police shot and killed O’Neal around 7:30 p.m. last week during a car chase which ensued after police identified him driving an allegedly stolen Jaguar. In the video footage released, the Jaguar can be seen hitting two police cars before a man runs out of the vehicle into an alley. Body camera footage from two officers shows the pair exiting their vehicle and firing several shots at the Jaguar as it tries to speed away before it crashes.
After the shooting, Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson relieved three of the officers involved of their duties, saying they potentially violated department policy.
While IPRA released a total of nine videos, some from body cameras and some from dashcams, the footage showing the shots that strike O’Neal in the back, ultimately killing him, was not among them. Though the officer who fired those shots was wearing a body camera, it was not working at the time.
“I can only imagine what that cam footage would’ve shown if we would’ve been able to see it,” Oppenheimer told reporters at the press conference. “It is amazing to me. It is horrific, it is tragic that these officers did what they did, and took their own street justice in their hands.”
While the footage doesn’t show police killing O’Neal, it does show some of the horrific reactions officers on the scene had. In two of the videos (Video 1 2:40 at and Video 2 at 2:37), an officer can be seen kicking O’Neal in the head, calling him a “bitch ass motherfucker” as another officer handcuffs him. In multiple conversations, officers can be heard wondering whether O’Neal shot at them, though he was unarmed.
While walking through an alley, one officer says to another “fuck man, I’m going to be on a desk for 30 days.”
Oppenheimer called for the immediate appointment of a special prosecutor in the case. "There's no question in my mind criminal acts were committed," he said.
Updated 2:00 p.m.
A group of activists confronted Police Superintendent Johnson outside the police department's Bronzeville headquarters. Johnson was scheduled to speak to press beginning at 1:00 p.m. As he came to the podium, a small group of activists stood in front of it to speak to media.
“The police out here are acting reckless," said one. "There’s no politically correct response to that video.”
Johnson stood silent for several minutes as the group spoke to the press before he left the podium.
"27 years of no police misconduct is an insult to my intelligence as an African American. We’re not out here to shut you down for no reason," said another man before a live feed provided by ABC7 was cut.
Paul O'Neal's sister Briana Adams expressed her devastation over the shooting to reporters in a separate press conference Friday afternoon. "Paul had goals," she said, before crying:
"I'm very hurt, words can't describe how I feel at this moment, how O felt when it happened. But I really want everybody to know that Paul was loved by my mother and his family, me. He was everybody's best friend. he loved to keep smiles on everybody's face, joking, playing basketball. He got out of school, graduated, got his diploma and everything. We tried to make the next step going to Dawson, so he could pick up a trade which is for the electrical company ComEd. I want everyone to know that Paul had goals."