Activists from several different organizations rallied at the Chicago Police Department headquarters ahead of a board meeting on Thursday, calling for the firings of officers involved in the fatal shooting of Dexter Reed, NBC Chicago’s Natalie Martinez reports.
Activists from several different organizations rallied at the Chicago Police Department headquarters ahead of a board meeting on Thursday, calling for the firings of officers involved in the fatal shooting of Dexter Reed.
According to Chicago's Civilian Office of Police Accountability, the oversight committee of Chicago's police department, five Chicago officers assigned to an 11th District tactical unit had pulled over Reed on March 21 in the 3800 block of West Ferdinand for "purportedly not wearing a seatbelt."
As the group stopped Reed, multiple officers surrounded his vehicle and, according to several bodycam videos, asked him to roll his windows down repeatedly. Officers then shouted at Reed not to roll the windows up and to unlock his doors.
As the shouts from police grew louder, gunfire began.
The police oversight agency said a "review of video footage and initial reports appears to confirm that Mr. Reed fired first, striking the officer and four officers returned fire."
The videos show multiple perspectives, including from the officer who was shot. But there isn’t clear footage of Reed shooting. A gun was later recovered from Reed's vehicle.
Activists who attended Thursday's board meeting called for an end to tactical units such as the one that pulled Reed over, along with demanding the firing of the five officers involved in the shooting.
Andrea Kersten, the head of COPA, said that her handling of the case is evidence of her efforts to provide transparency to the public.
While CPD Supt. Larry Snelling said he agreed that transparency is of utmost importance, he said he has withheld comment on the shooting to avoid "poisoning the well" regarding public discourse surrounding the shooting.
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"I believe it should be investigated, 100%," Snelling said.
The Chicago Police Board made clear that no disciplinary action would be made on Thursday.
