New surveillance footage has unveiled the harrowing scene that unfolded when a 13-year-old boy was gunned down by a law enforcement officer with the Chicago Police Department.
The footage, which was obtained by The Daily Beast, shows the moments leading up to the shooting. Per the news outlet: "In the video, the teen—known only by his initials A.G.—ran off the sidewalk and into the light of a gas station parking lot with his hands raised in the air before turning around to his right."
After the shooting occurred, the officers are said to have moved the teen to a different location carrying him "by only two legs and a piece of clothing as his arm briefly dragged on the pavement." Their action is one that Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown previously attempted to defend as he claimed it was done to "avoid harm from an explosion at the gas pump following the shooting."
However, Brown's remarks were contradicted by the series of events that followed. Another officer responding to the incident reportedly "careened into the gas station and crashed into the station's sign." At that point, most of the officers turned their attention toward the officer instead of focusing on the teen.
The shooting has led to a lawsuit being filed by the teen's family. The legal team representing the family argues that the teen had "complied with the officer's instructions, and that while A.G. survived, 'he has been permanently and catastrophically injured.'"
"CPD officers did not render immediate aide to A.G., but instead callously dragged him across the pavement and then turned their attention to an uninjured officer who crashed into a sign at the gas station while arriving on scene," read the complaint.
New video from @thedailybeast shows Chicago police shooting an unarmed 13-year-old boy with his hands in the air.
— Sawyer Hackett (@SawyerHackett) June 17, 2022
The boy—who was carried by his legs after being shot—will likely never walk again. pic.twitter.com/LzcKjUURiv
Speaking to The Beast, the family's lawyer Andrew M. Stroth confirmed that the teen, who is currently housed at the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, suffered severe wounds to his esophagus and still has a piece of a bullet lodged in his back.
"His wishes are to get healthy, his wishes are to walk, his wishes are to play basketball, his wishes are to ride his bike," said Stroth.
"You got yet another Black young person shot in the back in a city that is under a federal consent decree, in a city that has not enacted a new foot pursuit policy that preserves and respects the sanctity of life."
Stroth's remarks follow a press conference held by the Chicago Police Department where Superintendent Brown would not confirm whether or not the teen had his hands up. However, an eyewitness did.
"They said, 'Put your hands up, put your hands up!' The boy's hands were up. There's other people out there that seen it. I got it all on my phone—his hands were up. He didn't have a gun. They shot him for no reason," the eyewitness told "ABC7".
The teen has not been charged with a crime. No officers have been fired and the police department did not recover the weapon used in the shooting.
