Tapes released by the Independent Police Review Authority show that minutes before he fatally shot a 25 year old man in the Mt. Greenwood neighborhood last November, an off-duty Chicago police officer made a frantic call to 911.
“You need to send the police to 111th and Troy right now before someone gets shot,” that officer tells a 911 dispatcher. “I am an off duty police officer, and I’m being attacked by 12 (expletive) in a car!”
Previously, the official version of the shooting of 25 year old Joshua Beal of Indianapolis, was that he had been shot after pulling a gun during a road rage altercation, as he and his family returned from a funeral. The incident led to a series of protests between pro-police demonstrators, and representatives of the group Black Lives Matter.
“They cut me off the road, and one car came on the side of me---the other car came on the back of me,” that officer tells the dispatcher. “I’m telling you, you’ve got to get the police here now!”
The incident escalated---and somehow during the disturbance, Beal is shot by that officer and a sergeant who came to his aid. Police say Beal pulled the gun and actually pulled the trigger, but the weapon didn’t fire.
Among the tapes released by IPRA, are numerous calls from frantic witnesses.
“Total race thing going on,” says one caller. “Someone pulled a gun.”
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Another calls police in the seconds leading up to the shooting.
“There are multiple people in the middle of the street,” that caller warns. “Two people have guns!”
Among the callers, is a woman identifying herself as Beal’s sister.
“They just shot my brother, they just shot my brother,” she screams. “Josh, Josh, Josh, Josh!”
The Independent Police Review Authority is investigating.
