Lawsuit filed by family of man fatally shot by Chicago police, alleging ‘unprovoked’ use of force and violation of foot pursuit policy

Police say Reginald Clay Jr. was turning toward an officer during a chase when he was shot in Garfield Park. They said a gun was recovered.

SHARE Lawsuit filed by family of man fatally shot by Chicago police, alleging ‘unprovoked’ use of force and violation of foot pursuit policy
CPD.JPG

A federal lawsuit accuses a Chicago police officer of using “unprovoked and unwarranted” force and violating the department’s foot chase policy when they shot and killed Reginald Clay Jr. over the weekend in Garfield Park.

The officer “chased him down and shot him several times, despite no need for this use of deadly force,” the lawsuit states. “The police chased him and attempted to seize him in violation of the Chicago Police Department foot pursuit policy.”

Clay was leaning against a car, talking to friends, Saturday morning in the 3800 block of West Flournoy Street when police officers approached and he took off running, according to statements released by the department and the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.

Both said Clay was shot when he turned toward the officers. And both said a gun was found on him.

Neither the department nor COPA describes Clay holding the gun when he was shot, though CPD Deputy Chief Rahman Muhammad told reporters on the scene that Clay turned toward the officer and “brandished a handgun.”

Neither COPA nor the department has provided any additional information about the gun.

In addition to the use of excessive force, the lawsuit accuses the officer of breaking the department’s new, more stringent rules governing foot chases because there was no apparent reason to pursue him.

Clay took off “to avoid being hassled,” the lawsuit states, adding that “there were no facts to make anyone believe that (he) was committing a crime or breaking any laws.”

The lawsuit says Clay was heading to a friend’s funeral when he was shot. “Clay Jr. later succumbed to his gunshot wounds and died, leaving loving parents and a 3-year-old daughter who now must grow up without her father,” the family’s lawyer wrote.

A controversial foot pursuit policy put in place after the fatal police shootings of 13-year-old Adam Toledo and 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez prohibits officers from chasing a suspect because of the “mere act of flight alone.” 

The officers who approached his group were on a “gang de-escalation mission” following a fatal shooting nearby last week, according to Muhammad.

COPA plans to expedite the release of police body camera footage. The officers involved in the shooting were placed on routine administrative duties for 30 days. 

A police spokesperson declined to comment on the pending lawsuit.

The Latest
Glass-facade buildings can disorient birds in flight. The city is expected to update and revise rules for new developments and rehabbed buildings next month. But bird groups say the proposed guidelines need to be mandatory.
The man was shot in the left eye area in the 5700 block of South Christiana Avenue on the city’s Southwest Side.
Most women who seek abortions are women of color, especially Black women. Restricting access to mifepristone, as a case now before the Supreme Court seeks to do, would worsen racial health disparities.
The Bears have spent months studying the draft. They’ll spend the next one plotting what could happen.
Woman is getting anxious about how often she has to host her husband’s hunting buddy and his wife, who don’t contribute at all to mealtimes.