By Annie Sweeney, Jeremy Gorner and Alexandra Chachkevitch
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — For the second time in less than two weeks, the city moved quickly Wednesday to release video footage of a police-involved shooting -- this time of officers opening fire on a carjacking suspect after he shot into a police cruiser, police said.
Unlike the videos released Aug. 5 of the fatal shooting of an unarmed 18-year-old suspect that highlighted potential training deficiencies, the footage of the shooting Tuesday night in the Roseland neighborhood spotlighted the dangers police face, Superintendent Eddie Johnson told reporters Wednesday at police headquarters.
“These police officers face this kind of thing every single day,” Johnson said. “Law enforcement all over the country right now is being scrutinized for everything that they do. But yet, these officers didn’t go away from this. They ran to it.”
Audio and video from dashboard cameras captured the dramatic pursuit Tuesday night of the vehicle that police said had been stolen earlier in the day. The chase escalated after the suspect extended an arm out the driver’s window. Shots could then be heard, and a flash of light appeared.
Moments later, another shot fired by the suspect struck the police vehicle. An officer suffered a graze wound to the head, police said.
“Shots fired! Shots fired again!,” the officer screamed. "... I’m f---- shot! I’m hit! I’m hit!”
The release of footage from both recent shootings reflects a new era of policing that, with the expanding use of cameras, offers the public a chance to view and better understand such incidents.
David Hoffman, a former inspector general for the city, said the move toward transparency with video releases also provides protection for all involved.
“Let’s be clear, policing is an extremely difficult and dangerous job. On the flip side, there is all this history and recent problems with racial issues and clearly unnecessary use of force,” Hoffman said. “There are two sides to the coin, and transparency can help on both sides.”
The shooting happened just after 10 p.m. Tuesday after officers spotted Charles Lawson, 24, driving the suspected carjacked vehicle in the 600 block of East 100th Place. The officers tried to stop him, but Lawson allegedly stuck a gun out the window and fired shots at the squad car, according to a statement from Chicago police.
In the video, Lawson’s arm appeared to extend out of the window and a flash could be seen and shots heard.
Wednesday evening, police identified the wounded officer as Brandon McDonald, 35, who has two years on the force.
At least one officer in a second vehicle also fired at Lawson.
“When the first squad car got shot at and pulled back a bit, the second unit picked up the pursuit and they were fired at also,” Johnson said at the news conference. “So it just goes to show you how dangerous the job of being a police officer is ... and how quickly they have to make these split-second decisions.”
Lawson, who was not injured, crashed the car a short distance later. Agitated officers converged on him as he raised his arms and dropped to the pavement on orders of police.
“Get the f--- on the ground! Get the f--- on the ground! On the ground now!” an officer could be heard yelling.
“You f---- shoot at me, motherf----?” another yelled as he ran toward Lawson.
Lawson was charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery, aggravated hijacking, aggravated fleeing and eluding, and possession of a stolen vehicle.
The shooting happened about 21/2 weeks after a Chicago police officer fatally shot Paul O’Neal in the backyard of a home in the South Shore neighborhood. O’Neal had refused to stop a stolen Jaguar, prompting two officers to open fire at him as he drove away in the 7400 block of South Merrill Avenue. After crashing, O’Neal was shot once in the back by a third officer after a brief foot chase.
Johnson moved quickly to strip all three officers of their police powers pending investigation.
But the shooting Tuesday night seemed far different; the videos appeared to show police open fire after Lawson shot first at officers.
The city has revamped how quickly it makes video public after the bombshell release last fall of footage showing a white officer shoot black teen Laquan McDonald 16 times as he walked away from officers with a knife in his hand. Its release had been delayed for about a year. As part of several reform measures pushed amid a separate, ongoing probe by the U.S. Justice Department, the city agreed to release videos of police shootings within 60 days.