Shocking video footage has surfaced showing an off-duty police officer shooting and killing a man during a tussle in a Chicago neighborhood in January.
According to police documents, the officer, whose name and identity have not been revealed, had intervened in what appeared to be a robbery in front of an apartment building along 90th Street near Loomis Street shortly after 12pm on Jan. 18. The officer was a resident in the neighborhood and informed the parties that she was a police officer. But things took a turn for the worst when a suspect attempted to grab the officer’s gun.
In clips released by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA), the officer is first seen approaching four people who appeared to be in an argument. Three of the four people would eventually leave the scene, but one, Leevon Smith, 39, began to quarrel with the officer, eventually grabbing her and attempting to reach for her weapon.
In the video’s audio, the officer can be heard saying, “I’ll kill you,” after Smith reached for her gun. She then fires three shots, then yells, “Didn’t I just say I’d kill you?”
Moments later, she says “Call the police, I just shot somebody!” She then appears to yell at Smith stating “I just told you I’d shoot your ass – you tried to rob me!”
She then continues to state that the man tried to steal her gun, pleading for officers to arrive at the scene.
It would take several minutes for medics to arrive at the scene, where the officer never provided aid to Smith. He was taken to a local hospital and placed in critical condition. He died two days later.
“The CPD said in January that the officer involved would be placed on routine administrative duties for 30 days,” according to a CBS News report.
