Two Chicago police officers face dismissal after they fired at an unarmed teen who died
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Two Chicago police officers who shot at an unarmed black teen in 2016, are finally facing the possibility of being fired.
—New body cam video of Milwaukee Bucks’ Sterling Brown’s arrest—
Officers Michael Coughlin Jr. and his partner that day, Jose Torres, shot into a moving vehicle which was reportedly stolen and operated by 18-year-old Paul O’Neal in July of 2016. Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson determined the officers violated department rules.
While the Coughlin and Torres’ shots didn’t hit O’Neal, the teen was killed by a third police officer Jose Diaz after O’Neal ran from the vehicle through backyards in the South Shore neighborhood. Diaz claims he thought O’Neal was armed and fired the fatal shot.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Police Board which will make the decision whether the officers should be fired based on if they were in violation of departmental protocols.
According to the previously released video, Chicago police officers were caught checking around them to make sure that their body cams were off before they high-fived each other following the death of 18-year-old O’Neal.
An autopsy report revealed that O’Neal died of a single gunshot wound in the back after a chaotic chase with Chicago police.
Holding Police Officers Accountable
Earlier this month, Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke was found guilty for the 2014 shooting death of Laquan Mcdonald.
Van Dyke shot the 17-year-old 16 times and continued to fire his weapon even as the teenager was on the ground motion-less. None of the other officers on the scene opened fire.
The jury found Van Dyke guilty of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery. This comes after Van Dyke took to the stand in his own defense, giving a version of the fateful encounter that did not correlate with the video evidence prosecutors presented.
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