Things don't always go as planned when cops make the decision to fire their weapons and sometimes innocent bystanders get hurt. Hindsight is 20/20, but it's no easy task determining whether or not shootings were justified.
More than five years after the fact, a Chicago Tribune investigation calls the actions of two officers who shot and injured a 13-year-old girl into question.
According to the officers, they chased an alleged gunman to the front door of a West Side residence, where he tried to ram his way into the doorway while turning and firing his pistol at the cops. One of the officers hid behind a tree and opened fire as soon as he stepped out.
The alleged gunman (since convicted of attempted murder of a police officer) was injured, as was a girl who had tried to take cover from the alleged gun fight.
But outside the officers' statements, upon which the alleged gunman (Seneca Smith) was convicted, the story seems to fall apart. Police did not find a gun on Smith, nor did they find one near the crime scene. Still, the officers were cleared of any wrongdoing a mere 10 hours after the incident, the Tribune reports.
Forensics evidence just doesn't mesh with testimony from the officers, the article states, while no less than seven witnesses said they never saw Smith with a gun. The witnesses also claim (in a lawsuit against police) that the officers held them against their will and pressured them into lying about Smith possessing and firing a weapon at police.
The Independent Police Review has finished its investigation, urged by the Tribune and Columbia College Chicago students (who helped reporters) but has not yet announced its findings.
It's an interesting case and the above linked article provides much more detail.
- Witness disputes cops' account of chase, fatal shooting (Tribune)
- Chicago Criminal Lawyers (FindLaw)
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