Video footage released today shows an unarmed black teenager being pushed to the ground after a Chicago police shooting which killed him.
The horrifying film shows police kicking him in anger and called ‘motherf*****’ after he was shot – before he later died from his gun wounds.
Paul O’Neal, 18, was said to be the suspected driver of a stolen car – and three police officers have since been “stripped of their powers” after the incident last Thursday.
The potentially inflammatory video – shot by cameras on police body armour – shows events leading up to the fatal shooting.
It shows a cop driving to the incident and suddenly jumping out of his car and firing at a speeding car – allegedly being driven by O’Neal – which narrowly scraped past him.
Another officer can be seen firing shots in the footage and around 11 shots ring out in quick succession as the car speeds away.
The cop gives chase on foot and can be heard shouting: “He hit a car get an ambulance.”
When it reaches the stolen vehicle it has come to a stop ahead of another police car which it has hit head on – the fronts of both vehicles are later seen to be mangled.
The driver – said to be O’Neal – has apparently run from the car to a driveway behind some houses and several cops are now giving chase on foot, shouting to each other as well as the man they are chasing.
As they are climbing over a gate leading to a garden behind the house four shots ring out after one officer has got through a gap in the wall.
After an edit a cop wearing a camera can be seen entering a garden where three officers are stood over O’Neal who is lying face down on the floor at their feet. One is stood on his leg to pin him down.
The officer who has just approached grabs O’Neal’s arm and pulls it behind his back where he is handcuffed.
Blood can be seen seeping through his shirt where he has been shot.
O’Neal at this point is clearly alive and complying with everything they are telling him to do.
One cop rifles through O’Neal’s backpack and pulls out a screwdriver he discovers inside.
It’s unclear but there are around 6-8 officers surrounding the incident at this point – and they can be heard discussing “is everyone okay?”
They are then heard discussing how many times they shot.
The footage was first made available to O’Neal’s family and community activists this morning at around 9am local time at the HQ of the Independent Police Review Authority which is investigating the shooting.
O’Neal’s family left the building through a back door in tears and have yet to comment.
The O’Neal family’s attorney Michael Oppenheimer said: “It is one of the most horrific things I have seen.
“It’s unclear as to whether or not he was the actual shooter, but you are going to hear one of the police officers say, ‘Now I’m going to get a 30-day suspension’.”
She added that her heart goes out to O’Neal’s family.