A jury ruled in favor of the Chicago police officers who were involved in the 2018 fatal shooting of Harith Augustus, a well-regarded South Shore barber.
The verdict was reached Friday in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Augustus’ family a few months after the July 14, 2018, shooting that prompted protests and civil unrest.
Augustus was walking near 71st Street and Chappel Avenue when a group of officers noticed “the outline of a handgun visible under his shirt,” according to a Civilian Office of Police Accountability investigation.
Officers followed Augustus in the 2000 block of East 71st Street, where they surrounded and questioned him.
Augustus was searching through his wallet when one officer grabbed his arm. He pulled away and took a few steps onto the street, then reached for a gun holstered to his body, according to several videos of the shooting released by COPA.
Officer Dillan Halley then fired five shots, striking the 37-year-old Augustus. He was taken to Jackson Park Hospital where he was pronounced dead 20 minutes later.
The lawsuit named Halley, several other officers involved in the incident, as well as then-police Supt. Eddie Johnson and the city of Chicago as defendants.
Augustus, who lived less than a mile from where he was killed, had a valid Firearm Owner’s Identification Card but not a concealed-carry permit, according to police.
The Chicago police board later ruled that Officer Megan Fleming, who was among the officers named in the wrongful death lawsuit, serve a 60-day suspension.
Fleming, who was seen on video grabbing Augustus’ arm as he went through his wallet, also had to undergo re-training for concealed-carry investigatory stops.
Before the police board’s ruling, the COPA investigation recommended CPD to improve its training for concealed carry stops and to emphasize de-escalation during similar encounters.
“Officers clearly demonstrated a lack of clarity regarding how to engage (Augustus) who they observed to be carrying a concealed firearm,” the COPA report stated. “Furthermore, their lack of understanding led to an escalation of the encounter which may well have impacted the ultimate, tragic outcome.”
In a video posted on Twitter Friday night, Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara praised the verdict, calling it good news.
“Thankfully, those officers can breath a little deeper and move on with their life and put this nightmare behind them when they did absolutely nothing wrong,” Catanzara said. “Kudos to the jury for having some common sense.”
An attorney for Augustus’ family said they were “profoundly disappointed” by the verdict.
“His killing not only devastated his family, but it wounded an entire community,” attorney Locke Bowman said. “This is a difficult verdict to absorb.”
Bowman said the family is “reflecting on next steps,” which could include filing motions challenging the way the trial was conducted.
