Naperville police released video Tuesday showing an officer fatally shoot a man who ran at him with a hatchet during a traffic stop earlier this month.
The officer pulled over a car about 11 a.m. June 3 near the intersection of Bond Street and McDowell Road when another car pulled up alongside, Naperville police said.
A man, identified as 28-year-old Edward Samaan, got out of that car and “charged” at the officer with a hatchet in hand, police said.
Body-camera video shows the officer standing by the car he pulled over for driving through a stop sign. The officer speaks to the driver for about 11 minutes when a silver-colored vehicle traveling in the opposite direction pulls up and stops next to the officer.
Samaan then jumps out of the vehicle and rushes toward the officer, appearing to hold a hatchet in his right hand, according to the video. The officer fires several shots and Samaan falls to the ground.
“I’ve just been attacked, shots fired, shots fired. Don’t move, don’t move,” the officer can be heard saying over the radio. “Send a medic!”
More officers arrive at the scene and handcuff Samaan as he lays on the ground. Paramedics show up shortly after and begin to work on Samaan.
“Dude, he just pulled up for no reason,” the officer who fired the shots can be heard telling another officer.
Samaan was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The officer, a 22-year veteran of the department, was not injured.
An independent investigation into the officer’s use of force is being conducted by the DuPage County Metropolitan Emergency Response and Investigative Team and the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office.
