Man shot by Chicago police died of wound to back; 2 officers are relieved of powers
Two Chicago police officers have been relieved of their powers after department brass made the preliminary determination that they violated policy when they fired their weapons in an incident that killed an 18-year-old man.
Three officers fired their weapons in the incident that left Paul O’Neal dead after police say he sideswiped a squad car and hit a parked car while driving a stolen Jaguar, injuring some officers about 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
O’Neal died from a gunshot wound to the back, the Cook County medical examiner’s office determined in an autopsy Saturday.
The medical examiner classified the shooting as a homicide.
Police Supt. Eddie Johnson spent most of Friday afternoon “with top advisors and command staff reviewing the preliminary information from the incident. [Police] investigators determined 3 officers discharged their weapons in the course of their duties and given what is known thus far, it appears that departmental policies may have been violated by at least 2 of the police officers,” police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi wrote in an email Friday night.
The officers involved initially were placed on administrative duties for 30 days per department policy. They now will be on administrative duty but will not have their police powers and will not return to regular duty unless they are cleared by the Independent Police Review Authority and in internal investigations.
After the fatal shootings of Quintonio Legrier and Bettie Jones in December, the department started putting officers involved in shootings on 30-day administrative leave.
The policy also was instituted after the Department of Justice announced it was launching a civil rights investigation into the agency; that probe was prompted by the shooting death of Laquan McDonald.
A wave or protests swept Chicago last year after the release of a video that showed Jason Van Dyke, a white police officer, shooting McDonald, a black 17-year-old, 16 times. Van Dyke has since been charged with murder.
Friday night, a group of activists and O’Neal’s friends held a vigil at the site of the shooting.
The candlelight vigil of about 200 people briefly became chaotic after one man ran through the crowd and pushed O’Neal’s sister, Briana Adams, 23, who was quietly asking everyone to respect her brother.
The crowd ran in all directions, and more than a dozen officers rushed to the scene. No one was hurt.
Crepeau and Eltagouri write for the Chicago Tribune. Chicago Tribune staff writers Patricia Callahan and Annie Sweeney contributed to this report.
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