Newly released body camera footage of Chicago police fatally shooting a man during a mid-April foot chase appears to show the man holding a gun as he turns toward police.
Chicago police shot and killed Reginald Clay Jr., 24, in the West Garfield Park neighborhood on the morning of April 15. His family has since filed a lawsuit, alleging police made critical missteps and used excessive force.
The video released Wednesday by the Civilian Office for Police Accountability shows Clay walking away from police shortly after an officer pulls over, gets out of his car and walks toward him.
Clay then runs into a building’s gangway, up a flight of stairs and into another alleyway that appeared to be a dead end as two officers followed, the video shows. As he turns around, he appears to pull a handgun from his waistband,footage shows. An officer shoots him as Clay passes the gun from his right hand to left hand and he falls to the ground, the video shows.
He then raises his bloodied hands to surrender before falling flat.
“Get an ambulance over here! Get an ambulance over here!” shouts the officer who shot Clay.
In the following moments, an officer attempts to care for Clay as people nearby shout in outrage, the video shows. Clay suffered several gunshot wounds to the chest and arm, according to a police incident report. A Chicago Fire Department ambulance transported him to Mount Sinai Hospital.
“Why did you shoot?! Why did you shoot?! Why the f— did y’all shoot?!” shouts one man as officers pushed away the onlookers. “Why’d you all just kill my brother, bro? We’re going to a funeral right now for our other brother.”
Police pursued Clay because they believed he looked suspicious, according to records released by COPA.
Officers had been patrolling the area in an “escalation mission” following a gang killing that occurred nearby a week earlier, CPD Deputy Chief Rahman Muhammad said after the fatal shooting. Clay had “brandished a gun,” he alleged at the time.
“Officers were trying to ensure that a gang conflict did not escalate,” when the shooting, which he called a “tragic incident,” happened, Muhammad said.
Family members, including Clay’s mother, father and 3-year-old daughter, visited the spot he was shot on the 3800 block of West Flournoy Street later that day.
Police said Clay did not follow verbal directions and that they perceived an armed threat before shooting, according to documents shared by COPA. Audio in the video does not begin until after police shot Clay.
The officer who shot Clay was not wearing a field uniform at the time of the shooting, but was wearing a vest that held equipment marked “Police,” according to police reports and video of the shooting.
After seeing the footage Tuesday, family members told reporters it shows Clay running for his life and attempting to raise his hands to get rid of the weapon, according to Block Club Chicago.
“They murdered my boy, man, that’s hard to watch,” said Clay’s father, Reginald Clay Sr. “My heart was ripped out of my chest.”
Clay’s family alleged police used excessive force in the fatal shooting in a lawsuit filed several days after the shooting in federal court.
The 24-year-old had been planning to attend the funeral of a family friend the morning he was shot, the lawsuit said. He was leaning over a car talking with others when a police cruiser pulled up.
“There were no facts to make anyone believe (he) was committing a crime or breaking any laws,” the lawsuit alleged.
The lawsuit said police attempted to seize Clay despite having no evidence of a crime.
“To avoid being hassled, (he) backed away and took off,” the lawsuit alleged.
Officers violated CPD’s foot pursuit policy before their “unprovoked and unwarranted” use of deadly force, the lawsuit continues. The family is seeking at least $2 million.