Newly released bodycam footage reveals the mayhem that unfolded in a residential neighborhood when Chicago police fired as many as 96 bullets toward a man during a traffic stop, killing the 26-year-old and raising questions about whether officers used excessive force.
While a preliminary investigation suggests the driver opened fire on officers first, his family and attorneys question why plain-clothed officers swarmed Dexter Reed’s car with guns drawn and fired dozens of shots at him.
The fatal encounter happened in the city’s Garfield Park neighborhood on March 21. Several graphic bodycam videos were released Tuesday by Chicago’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
Dexter Reed would still be alive today if he complied with the orders by Chicago police, and if he didn’t shoot one of the cops
What happened afterward was justifiable
Media trying to get Blacks fired up by mis-reporting the facts… it’s not working
pic.twitter.com/PN4q2EA0xW— Chicago1Ray 🇺🇸 (@Chicago1Ray) April 11, 2024
In case y'all haven't seen it yet…
HERE👇🏼 is what happened during the shootout with Dexter Reed that the "media" is trying to create another "George Floyd" out of…
After being told to step out of the car he opened fire on police!!
SHARE THIS!!!! Don't let them pull this… pic.twitter.com/QYL9gdhmiq
— SaltyGoat (@SaltyGoat17) April 10, 2024
"He was just riding around in his car… and they k*lled him!" – Mother of Dexter Reed
False. Dexter was pulled over for a traffic stop and responded by sh00ting at the police.
They want another George Floyd movement and are looking for a martyr. The media is also coaxing it… pic.twitter.com/NRtfRRYoUE
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 10, 2024
What the videos show
In one video, an officer wearing a hooded jacket, a baseball cap and a tactical vest with a badge on it approaches the driver of a white vehicle with dark-tinted windows.
“Roll the window down. Roll the window down,” the officer tells the driver. The driver initially rolled his window down but then kept rolling it back up.
“What are you doing?” the officer asks. “Don’t roll the window up. Do not roll the window up!”
The officer pulls on the driver’s door handle – which appears to be locked – and then draws a gun. “Unlock the doors now! Unlock the doors now!” the officer screams as another officer shouts the same demands.
The driver apparently says, “OK, I’m trying to.”
Seconds later, as the officer retreats from the vehicle, gunfire breaks out.
Dozens of gunshots are then heard in rapid succession.
Other bodycam videos show at least two other officers firing toward Reed from across the street in the residential neighborhood. Both of those officers paused to reload their guns.
After the barrage of gunfire ends, Reed’s body is found lying face down behind the vehicle.
“He started shooting at us,” an officer said in one of the videos.
About a minute later, an officer examines Reed’s bullet-ridden car.
“The gun’s right there,” the officer says, shining a flashlight into the vehicle.
One officer was shot in the wrist during the gunfire and was hospitalized in good condition, Chicago police said.
Now, multiple agencies are investigating whether the officers’ actions were justified.
The traffic stop stemmed from a seat belt violation, agency says
“Preliminary reports indicate that this incident began when five Chicago Police officers assigned to an 11th District tactical unit engaged in a traffic stop of Dexter Reed, Jr. for purportedly not wearing a seatbelt,” the Civilian Office of Police Accountability said in a statement Tuesday.
COPA is the city agency responsible for investigating allegations of police misconduct and all police shootings.
“Upon stopping Mr. Reed, multiple officers surrounded his vehicle while giving verbal commands. When Mr. Reed did not comply with these commands, officers pointed their firearms at Mr. Reed and ultimately there was an exchange of gunfire which left Mr. Reed dead and an officer shot in the forearm,” COPA said.
“Review of video footage and initial reports appears to confirm that Mr. Reed fired first, striking the officer and four officers returned fire,” the office said.
It was not immediately clear from CNN’s review of bodycam footage who fired first.
“Available preliminary evidence also confirms that officers returned fire approximately 96 times over a period of 41 seconds, including after Mr. Reed exited his vehicle and fell to the ground,” COPA said.
“Mr. Reed was struck by gunfire multiple times and was transported to the hospital and later pronounced deceased. A gun was recovered on the front passenger seat of Mr. Reed’s vehicle.”
‘That is nothing but plain murder to me’
Reed’s family members and their attorneys said they can’t understand why the officers – several of whom were wearing plain clothes with their tactical vests – swarmed his car with guns.
“Dexter was pulled over for failing to wear his seat belt. Now this leaves many, many questions,” attorney Steven Hart said. “Why were tactical officers jumping out of an unmarked police car with their guns drawn for a simple traffic violation of not wearing a seatbelt?”
Dexter Reed Porscha Banks/Action Injury Law Group
Reed’s uncle Roosevelt Banks said he would panic in that scenario.
“If I was in that situation, I would be terrified. I wouldn’t know how to … react other than to protect myself,” Banks said after watching the police footage.
“After he was shot up … you added clips to your gun? That is nothing but plain murder to me.”
