Introduction to the Case
Criminal charges won’t be filed against the four Chicago police officers who fired a deadly barrage of bullets at Dexter Reed after he shot their partner during a traffic stop last year in Humboldt Park, Cook County’s top prosecutor announced Wednesday. Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke gave a detailed breakdown of the controversial shooting at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, telling reporters that her office concluded the officers were in reasonable fear for their lives when they pulled Reed over on March 21, 2024.
The Shooting Incident
The first shot Reed fired struck one of the five tactical officers in the hand in the 3800 block of West Ferdinand Street. The other officers responded by unloading 96 shots at Reed in less than a minute — hitting him 13 times and leaving him dead. Five of those bullets pierced his body after he’d gotten out of his SUV and fallen to the ground, prosecutors found. The gun recovered from Reed’s passenger seat had been fired 11 times, prosecutors said. It had been reported stolen from Gary, Indiana, in 2019 and was used in another shooting in 2023.
Decision Not to Charge Officers
Prosecutors determined the evidence presented to them didn’t warrant criminal charges against the officers, O’Neill Burke said, and the decision was upheld by the Illinois state’s attorney appellate prosecutor’s office. The shooting, captured in jarring body camera videos, prompted renewed criticism of the police department’s traffic stop practices and its officers’ use of force. But O’Neill Burke said she wasn’t influenced by the public outcry. “This is a terrible thing when a young person is killed,” O’Neill Burke said. “However, I will never make decisions in this office based on who is screaming the loudest or what political winds are blowing”
Reaction from Reed’s Family
Andrew Stroth, the attorney for Reed’s family, said they were disappointed but not surprised by O’Neill Burke’s findings. “The threshold to charge criminally is beyond a reasonable doubt,” Stroth said at a news conference at his downtown offices later Wednesday. “It is such a high threshold and standard that typically officers do not get charged.” Stroth said the family will continue forward with the federal civil rights lawsuit they filed last year. Reed’s mother filed the federal lawsuit against the city and the officers involved, alleging they “executed” her son during an unlawful and unconstitutional traffic stop.
Investigation Findings
Although O’Neill Burke was adamant that Reed shot first — echoing the findings of other officials — Stroth said he has yet to receive a ballistics report from Illinois State Police that provides “objective” proof Reed fired the first shot. “Let’s be clear, this is not about a police shootout on the West Side of Chicago,” said Stroth. “This is about an unjustified, unconstitutional, pretextual and racist stop. Dexter Reed was stopped for being Black on the West Side of Chicago.”
Pattern of Stops
The officer who was wounded and one of his partners are no longer active members of the Chicago Police Department, a police spokesperson said. The other officers remain on active duty and are assigned to administrative duties in the Harrison District, where the shooting happened. COPA recently closed investigations into two other traffic stops involving the five officers that took place weeks before the Reed shooting. COPA found the wounded officer and three others unlawfully stopped, searched and detained people sitting in a car during a “supposed traffic stop” on March 1, 2024.
Body Camera Footage
Body camera footage obtained by the Sun-Times showed this group of five officers had conducted 50 traffic stops in the days and hours leading up to Reed’s death. The five plainclothes officers then curbed Reed’s SUV and approached, wearing badges and bulletproof vests, body camera footage shows. Reed resisted orders to roll down his car’s tinted windows or unlock the door, as officers shouted at him. Moments later, Reed fired out of his passenger window, striking one officer in the hand, according to an investigation conducted by O’Neill Burke’s office.
Conclusion
The decision not to charge the officers involved in the shooting of Dexter Reed has sparked controversy and renewed criticism of the police department’s practices. While the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office has concluded that the officers were in reasonable fear for their lives, many questions remain about the circumstances surrounding the shooting and the pattern of stops conducted by the officers involved.
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