IPRA releases video from fatal November police shooting

The Independent Police Review Authority on Tuesday released surveillance video of Chicago Police officers fatally shooting a man who fired on another man near a busy West Englewood intersection.

A lieutenant signed a tactical response report saying the two officers who opened fire “acted within Departmental guidelines” in the Nov. 18, 2016, shooting of 26-year-old Darius Jones, according to the newly released case files.

IPRA, which investigates officers’ use of force and alleged misconduct, is still reviewing the case. The agency has a self-imposed policy of releasing video and police reports within 60 days of officer-involved shootings.

Two camera angles show a fight spilling onto 69th Street near Damen Avenue about midnight, with one man pulling out a gun and firing toward a group of people who scatter. A squad car that happened to be at the intersection pulls up and the officers get out with guns drawn, as the man walks in their general direction with the gun still in his hand. That’s when the officers open fire.

A police statement at the time said the officers were on patrol and “repeatedly ordered” the gunman to drop his weapon before shooting him multiple times.

Jones, who lived nearby, died within the hour, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. An autopsy ruled that he died of multiple gunshot wounds.

The 26-year-old man Jones allegedly shot in the abdomen was taken to the same hospital in critical “but stable” condition, authorities said. The men knew each other, and the initial shooting was not considered random, police said.

Investigators recovered a weapon at the scene, and the two officers were placed on desk duty for 30 days, per CPD policy.