Dexter Reed killed after Chicago police fired 96 shots in 41 seconds at black motorist — killing him following seating violation. Newly released bodycam video shows the ensuing chaos as questions about excessive police force are raised amid calls for charges against the 5 plain clothed officers along with demands that they be fired.
Newly released bodycam footage has captured the moment Chicago police fired as many as 96 bullets (in less than a minute) toward a man during a traffic stop for a seat belt violation, killing the 26-year-old driver and raising questions about excessive force police force.
While a preliminary investigation suggests Dexter Reed opened fire on officers first, family and attorneys question why plain-clothed officers swarmed on the 26 year old’s car with guns drawn and fired dozens of shots at him.
5 plain clothed cops in an unmarked car, pull over a Black man in Chicago, for what they say was a seatbelt violation. They noticed he didn’t have his seatbelt on, even though his windows wear tinted all the way around.
When 5 armed strangers come to your car…SHOOT!
Dexter Reed pic.twitter.com/M7wMpZaX7Z— Cₕₑᵣₑₗₗₑ bₑ ₜₐₗₖᵢₙ ₛₕᵢₜ! (@DFiosa) April 9, 2024
5 plain clothed cops descend on motorist over seating violation
The fatal encounter happened in the the suburban enclave of Garfield Park on March 21 as officers in an unmarked sedan pulled Reed over for an alleged seat belt violation.
The chaotic footage shows Reed rolling down the window of his SUV and then raising it before refusing to exit his vehicle as five officers scream commands and draw their weapons according to bodycam videos released on Tuesday by Chicago’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA).
Preliminary evidence showed Reed had fired first at one officer during the shootout on West Ferdinand Street. Four other officers returned fire, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability said in a statement.
The videos released show multiple perspectives, including from the officer who was shot, but there isn’t clear footage of Reed shooting at police.
A gun was later recovered from the passenger seat of his vehicle.
In one video, an officer wearing a hooded jacket, a baseball cap and a tactical vest with a a badge on it approaches the driver of a white vehicle with dark-tinted windows.
‘What are you doing?!!’
‘Roll the window down. Roll the window down,’ the officer tells the driver. The driver initially rolled his window down but then kept rolling it back up.
‘What are you doing?’ the officer asks. ‘Don’t roll the window up. Do not roll the window up!’
The officer pulls on the driver’s door handle – which appears to be locked – and then draws a gun. ‘Unlock the doors now! Unlock the doors now!’ the officer screams as another officer shouts the same demands.
The driver apparently says, ‘OK, I’m trying to.’
Seconds later, as the officer retreats from the vehicle, gunfire breaks out.
Dozens of gunshots are then heard in rapid succession.
Other bodycam videos show at least two other officers firing toward Reed from across the street in the residential neighborhood. Both of those officers paused to reload their guns.
After the barrage of gunfire ends, Reed’s body is found lying face down behind the vehicle.
Cops claim black motorist fired first
‘He started shooting at us,’ an officer said in one of the videos.
About a minute later, an officer examines Reed’s bullet-ridden car.
‘The gun’s right there,’ the officer says, shining a flashlight into the vehicle.
One officer was shot in the wrist during the gunfire and was hospitalized in good condition, Chicago police said.
Now, multiple agencies are investigating whether the officers’ actions were justified.
‘Preliminary reports indicate that this incident began when five Chicago Police officers assigned to an 11th District tactical unit engaged in a traffic stop of Dexter Reed, Jr. for purportedly not wearing a seatbelt,’ the Civilian Office of Police Accountability said in a statement Tuesday.
COPA is the city agency responsible for investigating allegations of police misconduct and all police shootings.
‘Upon stopping Mr. Reed, multiple officers surrounded his vehicle while giving verbal commands. When Mr. Reed did not comply with these commands, officers pointed their firearms at Mr. Reed and ultimately there was an exchange of gunfire which left Mr. Reed dead and an officer shot in the forearm,’ COPA said.
‘Review of video footage and initial reports appears to confirm that Mr. Reed fired first, striking the officer and four officers returned fire,’ the office said.
‘Available preliminary evidence also confirms that officers returned fire approximately 96 times over a period of 41 seconds, including after Mr. Reed exited his vehicle and fell to the ground,’ COPA affirmed.
‘Mr. Reed was struck by gunfire multiple times and was transported to the hospital and later pronounced deceased. A gun was recovered on the front passenger seat of Mr. Reed’s vehicle.’
Reed’s family who say the 26 year old was a talented basketball player with dreams of becoming a sports broadcaster, wants to see an investigation into the shooting.
Will cops now face charges?
Their attorney deemed the shooting unconstitutional since the plainclothes officers did not announce they were cops along with family members struggling to understand why plain clothed cops, some with tactical vests – swarmed the 26 year old’s car with guns.
‘Dexter was pulled over for failing to wear his seat belt. Now this leaves many, many questions,’ family attorney Steven Hart said according to CNN. ‘Why were tactical officers jumping out of an unmarked police car with their guns drawn for a simple traffic violation of not wearing a seatbelt?’
Reed’s uncle Roosevelt Banks said he would panic in that scenario.
‘If I was in that situation, I would be terrified. I wouldn’t know how to … react other than to protect myself,’ Banks said after watching the police footage.
‘After he was shot up … you added clips to your gun? That is nothing but plain murder to me.’
But the president of a Chicago police union, the Fraternal Order of Police Chicago Lodge #7, defended the officers’ response.
‘Of course we have a clear defense of our officers’ actions,’ John Catanzara Jr. wrote in an email to CNN.
Culture of excessive police force
‘This shooting remains under investigation by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) with the full cooperation of the Chicago Police Department,’ the police department said in a statement Tuesday. ‘We cannot make a determination on this shooting until all the facts are known and this investigation has concluded.’
It’s not clear whether any of the officers involved in the shooting will face criminal charges, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said Tuesday. Her office will now decide whether what charges, if any, will be brought forward.
Mayor Brandon Johnson said the release of the footage and 911 calls was part of an effort to be more transparent.
Police bodycam footage continues to play an increasing role in raising awareness and understanding about officer-involved shootings.
Such evidence has been used to help convict some officers of crimes, while other officers have avoided criminal charges after the release of bodycam footage.
While the videos help bring more clarity in case by case incidents, they also raise a plethora of unnerving questions, whether police force is indeed excessive and why such heavy handed use of force continues to be the prevailing norm?
