A Chicago police officer responding to a ShotSpotter alert on the South Side opened fire on a boy lighting fireworks, according to newly released video.
“No, it’s just fireworks, it’s just fireworks,” the child is heard yelling after the officer fires in his direction, according to footage from the officer’s body camera.
The child was not wounded. Police on the scene described him as “maybe 14 or 15.”
The bodycam video, released Tuesday by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, shows officers driving in a squad car through an alley near the 8500 block of South Winchester Avenue in response to a ShotSpotter alert just after 11 p.m. on Jan. 25.
The video shows three officers getting out and heading toward the backyard of a home. An officer asks, “What you doing bro, you good?” and then there is a loud bang. One officer then fires their weapon.
Chicago police initially claimed officers were fired upon by a man, but later changed their statement to say officers saw flashes of light when they attempted to speak to the man.
All of the department’s initial statements said a “man” was involved, even though officers can be heard on the video telling dispatchers the person was “maybe 14 or 15” years old.
A response report filed by the officers said the “subject” physically attacked them with a weapon, was likely to cause great bodily harm or death, fled the scene and did not follow verbal instructions — none of which can be seen on the body camera footage.
An officer can be heard on camera stating the child “ran into the house.”
COPA quickly disputed the claim that officers were fired at, stating in late January there was no evidence “a man” shot at Chicago police before an officer fired shots.
“COPA can confirm that a firearm was not used against the officers,” Ephraim Eaddy, COPA’s first deputy chief administrator, reiterated in a statement Tuesday.
The individual, who has “now been identified as a juvenile,” was standing near a home when officers arrived and heard a loud noise, “which was later determined to be fireworks,” according to the statement from COPA.
COPA did not say what, if any, action was being taken against the officers.
