CPD's Racist History Cited In Suit On Behalf Of Teen Killed By Police

By Sarah Gouda in News on Apr 20, 2016 8:58PM

The family of a black teenager who was shot and killed by a Chicago police officer earlier this month has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city. The lawsuit ties 16-year-old Pierre Loury's death to the systemic racism that plagues the Chicago Police Department, according to a recent task force report.

The suit, filed by Loury's mother Tambrasha Hudson, alleges police gave false and incomplete versions of the story around the shooting to make it look like officers were in imminent danger, according to the Chicago Tribune. Police said Loury was shot after pointing a gun at an officer, but the according to the lawsuit, he was shot when he was trying to climb a fence and posing no threat to officers.

The suit also references a report conducted by Mayor Rahm Emanuel's Police Accountability Task Force that calls out systemic racism and a lack of officer accountability that persists in the Chicago Police Department. "The community's lack of trust in CPD is justified," the report said. "There is substantial evidence that people of color -- particularly African-Americans -- have had disproportionately negative experiences with the police over an extended period of time."

According to police, the April 11 incident the lawsuit brings into question began with a car stop; police stopped Loury's car because it matched the description of one involved in a prior shooting. When officers attempted to apprehend him, he began running on foot. The foot chase ended in an "armed confrontation" in the 3400 block of West Grenshaw Street. First Deputy Superintendent John Escalante told reporters last week that an officer chasing Loury opened fire after Loury turned and pointed a gun at him. Loury was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital after the shooting and pronounced dead at 8:27 p.m.

This is the third fatal police shooting this year.