New bodycam videos show Chicago police shooting at fleeing gunman in Humboldt Park

WARNING: VIDEOS CONTAIN GRAPHIC VIOLENCE AND LANGUAGE AND MAY NOT BE APPROPRIATE FOR ALL VIEWERS

Body camera videos and documents related to Chicago police officers shooting at a fleeing gunman suspected of killing a man in Humboldt Park in May suggest one of the officers may have mistaken a shot fired by his partner for a shot fired by the suspect.

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability released the two videos and multiple documents Tuesday in connection with the May 3 incident. In one video, Officer Timothy Black is seen chasing the suspect into an alley and attempting to grab him as he gets into a waiting sedan. A brief scuffle ensues and Black is knocked to the ground, firing shots as the car drives away.

The audio doesn’t kick in on Black’s body camera until about 30 seconds in, after the shots are fired. His partner, Officer Anthony Soria, hunches over him and checks if he’s ok before shouting for help into his radio.

On the night of the incident, Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said that officers chased and fired at the suspect about 8:10 p.m. after they saw him shoot a man during a possible robbery near the 3600 block of West Division Street. It was unclear if the gunman was shot by police as he made his escape.

No one has been taken into custody and the case remains an open and active investigation, Chicago police said.

In the video taken from Soria’s body camera, Soria is heard telling dispatchers about the chain of events that led to shots being fired.

“He shot the victim at Subway, we chased him into this alley. The silver Nissan was waiting for him, he jumped in, he pointed a gun at us and shots were fired,” Soria said.

Breathing heavily, Black initially refutes Soria’s statement, telling dispatchers that the suspect fired first.

About a minute later, as they return to their vehicle, Black is heard on his body camera telling Soria, “Dude, he let a round go while I was on the ground.”

Soria responds “No that was me, he pointed at you or somebody pointed at you, I don’t know.” Later in the video, he tells Black “After you fell, I saw him kind of move his arm.”

Tactical response reports released by COPA say that Black, 26, fired six shots in the 3700 block of West Division and Soria, 27, fired one. The reports allege that the suspect “used force likely to cause death or great bodily harm” in addition to a slew of other offenses.

In a news conference given that night, police said it was unclear if the officers were fired upon by the gunman.

Neither officer was struck by bullets, though Black was hospitalized for hip and chest pains, according to the reports.

Two other responding officers found a semi-automatic handgun lying near a tree in the 1100 block of North Lawndale Avenue, according to the original incident report released by COPA.

At the scene of the possible robbery on the West Side, a man, later identified as 33-year-old Mutasim Sulieman, had been fatally shot in the chest by the gunman, Guglielmi and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. An autopsy conducted the next day ruled Sulieman’s death a homicide by multiple gunshot wounds.

The release of a third-party video has been delayed at the request of police, who cited the ongoing homicide investigation. COPA approved the request, saying the third-party video will be released on or before August 1.

A COPA spokeswoman said the investigation into the case is ongoing.

Neither Guglielmi nor a spokesman for the Fraternal Order of Police, the union that represents rank-and-file officers, could immediately be reached for comment.

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