Video shows Chicago police firing at car as it drives away

Published 2:01 pm Saturday, August 6, 2016

CHICAGO — Video released Friday shows Chicago police firing repeatedly at a stolen car as it careens down the street away from them, then handcuffing the mortally wounded black 18-year-old who was at the wheel after a chaotic foot chase through a residential neighborhood.

None of the footage from last month shows the moment Paul O’Neal was shot in the back; the fatal bullet was fired after he exited the stolen car and was running from police. Shortly afterward, O’Neal can be seen lying face-down on the ground in a backyard, blood soaking through the back of his T-shirt.

An officer is heard angrily accusing the suspected car thief of firing at police. Another officer asks, “They shot at us too, right?” suggesting police believed they had been fired upon and that they did not know how many suspects were present.

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No gun was recovered from the scene.

Attorney Michael Oppenheimer, who represents O’Neal’s family, said the video showed officers taking “street justice into their own hands.”