The Civilian Office of Police Accountability released two body camera videos and several documents Tuesday related to an incident in which Chicago police officers shot at a fleeing gunman suspected of killing a man in Humboldt Park in May.
In one body camera video of the May 3 incident, Officer Timothy Black is seen chasing the suspect into an alley and attempting to grab him as he gets into a waiting sedan. A brief scuffle ensues and Black is knocked to the ground, firing shots as the car drives away.
The audio doesn’t kick in on Black’s body camera until about 30 seconds in, after the shots are fired. His partner, Officer Anthony Soria, who also fired, hunches over him and checks if he’s ok before shouting for help into his radio.
On the night of the incident, Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said that officers chased and fired at the suspect about 8:10 p.m. after they saw him shoot a man during a possible robbery near the 3600 block of West Division Street. It was unclear if the gunman was shot by police as he made his escape.
No one has been taken into custody and the case remains an open and active investigation, Chicago police said.
Tactical response reports released by COPA say that Black, 26, fired six shots in the 3700 block of West Division and Soria, 27, fired one. The reports allege that the suspect “used force likely to cause death or great bodily harm” in addition to a slew of other offenses.
In a news conference given that night, police said it was unclear if the officers were fired upon by the gunman.
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Neither officer was struck by bullets, though Black was hospitalized for hip and chest pains, according to the reports.
At the scene of the possible robbery on the West Side, a man, later identified as 33-year-old Mutasim Sulieman, had been fatally shot in the chest by the gunman, Guglielmi and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. An autopsy conducted the next day ruled Sulieman’s death a homicide by multiple gunshot wounds.
