A Lawsuit Is Filed Against Chicago Police Over the Deadly Shooting of a 13-Year-Old
A 13-year-old boy shot in the back by a Chicago police officer was unarmed and had his arms raised to surrender when he was hit by the bullet, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday, saying the incident illustrates deeply flawed implementation of department policy on the pursuit of suspects.
The bullet severely damaged part of the Black teenager’s spine, possibly rendering him permanently paralyzed by the May 18 late night shooting, the filing in Chicago’s U.S. District Court says. Police have said previously the boy was in a car suspected of involvement in a carjacking in a suburb the day before and that he jumped out and started running. He hasn’t been charged.
The excessive force lawsuit says the seventh grader, who had been a passenger, was complying with orders from officers running behind him through the grounds of a West Side gas station and screaming for him to put up his hands.
