Video Shows Suspect Shooting At Chicago Police During Car Chase

By Gwendolyn Purdom in News on Aug 18, 2016 2:47PM

Chicago Police were quick to release dash cam footage Wednesday of a high speed chase Tuesday night in which the fleeing suspect shot at pursuing officers, grazing one's face with a bullet. Charles Lawson, 24, was charged with four counts of attempted murder, aggravated battery, possession of a stolen vehicle, aggravated hijacking and aggravated fleeing and eluding, police said.

The chase through the South Side's Fernwood neighborhood started after police said Lawson carjacked a vehicle. In the video, shots can be heard after the suspect apparently stuck his arm out the driver's side window. The pursuing officer can then be heard shouting "I'm fucking shot! I'm hit!" Officers in another cruiser returned fire and Lawson eventually crashed into a parked car, police said.

The release of this video comes just a few weeks after another video of a police involved shooting prompted outcry across the city and country. When CPD released footage in which unarmed 18-year-old Paul O'Neal was shot and killed by officers, the incident and the fact that officers body cameras did not capture the actual shooting sparked outrage, especially amid the country's ongoing conversation about police brutality against black citizens nationwide. The Cook County medical examiner released a report last week stating that O'Neal had been killed by a single gunshot wound to the back and had no drugs in his system at the time of his death.

A use of force investigation by the Independent Police Review Authority is underway regarding Tuesday's shootout, police said.