An unarmed 13-year-old Black boy had his hands raised in the air when he was gunned down by a Chicago Police Department officer in an incident that took place last month, new surveillance video shows.
In the video, obtained by The Daily Beast, shows the teen—known only by his initials A.G.—running off the sidewalk and into a gas station parking lot with his hands raised in the air before turning around to his right.
A.G. was Unarmed, Had His Hands Raised When He was Shot
As he turns, the boy is shot by an officer and collapses to the ground. After he was shot, the new footage shows, two officers carrying the teen to a different location, which Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown previously claimed was to avoid harm from an explosion at the gas pump following the shooting.
Moments later, a responding cop car careened into the gas station and crashed into the station's sign, briefly drawing the attention of nearly all of the roughly 20 officers away from the teen. Watch the video below:
Chicago Police Chief Did Not Mention Teen Had His Hands Raised in Press Conference
A.G.—who ran after police tried to stop a car in which he was a passenger—has not been charged with any crime. No officers were fired on, and no weapon was recovered at the scene.
In May, videos released by Instagram page Chicago Media Takeout and WGN Chicago stoked rising calls for transparency surrounding the shooting. However, the newly obtained video shows a clear view of A.G.'s hands when he was shot—as well as the moment that the boy was moved by officers—key details which were not clear in previous videos.
In a press conference 24 hours after the shooting, Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown would not say whether the boy had his hands in the air. He later told reporters that an officer discharged his weapon and shot A.G. once.
One witness told ABC7 that the teen had complied with the demands of officers. "They said, 'Put your hands up, put your hands up!' The boy's hands were up. There's other people out there that seen it. I got it all on my phone—his hands were up. He didn't have a gun. They shot him for no reason," the eyewitness said.
Police alleged that A.G. was a passenger in a silver Honda Accord which they believe was involved in a carjacking the day prior. When he fled the vehicle, police pursued him to the gas station. At least one officer was put on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
The incident takes place more than a year after Chicago police shot and killed another 13-year-old, Adam Toledo, while his hands were in the air.
Lawyer: A.G. Suffered Major Spinal Injury, May Never Walk Again
In a lawsuit filed by the family last month, the complaint charged that A.G. had complied with the officer's instructions, and that while A.G. survived, "he has been permanently and catastrophically injured."
"CPD officers did not render immediate aide to A.G., but instead callously dragged him across the pavement and then turned their attention to an uninjured officer who crashed into a sign at the gas station while arriving on scene," read the complaint.
The teenager was hospitalized in a critical condition and may never walk again after suffering a major spinal injury. "At this point, he doesn't have movement of his legs," the family's lawyer, Andrew M. Stroth, noted. He also sustained major wounds to his esophagus and a piece of the bullet is still lodged in the boy's back, Stroth added.
A.G. is currently at Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, a rehabilitation facility in Chicago, trying to regain his ability to walk. "His wishes are to get healthy, his wishes are to walk, his wishes are to play basketball, his wishes are to ride his bike," said Stroth.
"You got yet another Black young person shot in the back in a city that is under a federal consent decree, in a city that has not enacted a new foot pursuit policy that preserves and respects the sanctity of life."
