{"id":143738,"date":"2025-08-14T00:38:20","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T00:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/143738\/"},"modified":"2025-08-14T00:38:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T00:38:20","slug":"chicago-police-officers-in-tactical-unit-avoid-criminal-charges-in-fatal-traffic-stop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/143738\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago police officers in tactical unit avoid criminal charges in fatal traffic stop"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO (AP) \u2014 Chicago police officers from a tactical unit who fired their guns nearly 100 times<\/a> during a 2024 traffic stop that killed a 26-year-old man won\u2019t face criminal charges, prosecutors announced Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decision is not reached lightly nor does it diminish the tragedy that occurred,\u201d Cook County State\u2019s Attorney Eileen O\u2019Neill Burke said at a news conference. \u201cBut to the question of whether the officers committed a crime under the Illinois Criminal Code, the answer is straightforward: They did not.\u201d <\/p>\n

The shooting that killed Dexter Reed, a Black man, raised questions<\/a> about the use of force and the role of tactical officers who were involved. In Reed\u2019s case, the five officers were dressed in plainclothes and drove unmarked cars as they surrounded Reed\u2019s SUV on March 21, 2024.<\/p>\n

Reed fired first, which Burke said was part of the \u201cclear and overwhelming evidence\u201d that led her to decide against pursuing charges. One of the five officers at the scene was immediately injured. Burke said Reed fired 11 rounds in two bursts with a gun he obtained illegally. <\/p>\n

Four officers shot back 96 times, even after Reed left the vehicle, fell to the ground and lay motionless. One officer alone fired 50 shots. <\/p>\n

Reed was hit 13 times, including on his legs and chest, according to the Cook County medical examiner. The shooting and Reed\u2019s death happened within roughly one minute.<\/p>\n

Police have released little and at times conflicting information<\/a> about what prompted the traffic stop. Initially police said officers had pulled Reed over for not wearing a seat belt. Later city attorneys said it was due to illegally tinted windows. <\/p>\n

A message left Wednesday for the police union was not immediately returned.<\/p>\n

The officers were placed on administrative leave. Chicago police said Wednesday that three remained on administrative duties while two were \u201cinactive.\u201d A spokesman declined to elaborate further. <\/p>\n

Community activists called for them to be fired immediately in the killing of another young Black man. <\/p>\n

Reed\u2019s family has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit, alleging \u201cbrutally violent\u201d policing tactics, and they have called for the city to work harder to comply with a court-supervised reform plan prompted by<\/a> a 2014 police shooting where officers shot Black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times. <\/p>\n

Reed was a former high school and college basketball player with ambitions of being a sportscaster. Family remembered him as a kind, caring person who had experienced recent health problems, including recovering from a 2021 shooting, and post-traumatic stress disorder. <\/p>\n

The family alleged that the officers didn\u2019t properly identify themselves as police during the West Side traffic stop; lacked reasonable suspicion to stop Reed; escalated the situation by immediately drawing guns, blocking his vehicle and shouting profanity-laced commands; and failed to provide timely medical care as Reed lay in the street.<\/p>\n

Family members were disappointed in the decision not to file charges, according to attorney Andrew Stroth, who represents Reed\u2019s family. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue to fight for justice,\u201d Stroth said in a statement. \u201cThis case is about the pattern and practice of unconstitutional actions by tactical units within the Chicago Police Department.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chicago police declined to comment Wednesday, citing an ongoing investigation. But the department has generally addressed the work of the tactical officers, saying such units have been part of each district\u2019s patrol for years. They are generally sent to areas with high crime patterns, working in uniform and sometimes in street clothes. <\/p>\n

Burke said her office would not address questions on policing. \u201cIt is not this office\u2019s role to examine or cast judgment on police tactics,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO (AP) \u2014 Chicago police officers from a tactical unit who fired their guns nearly 100 times during…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":143739,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[85281,20148,960,4219,85280,57,4222,5386,1819,1818,4228,12912,2936,57900,2068,3677,61],"class_list":{"0":"post-143738","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-andrew-stroth","9":"tag-black-experience","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-crime","12":"tag-eileen-oneill-burke","13":"tag-general-news","14":"tag-gun-violence","15":"tag-il","16":"tag-il-state-wire","17":"tag-illinois","18":"tag-indictments","19":"tag-laquan-mcdonald","20":"tag-law-enforcement","21":"tag-police-brutality","22":"tag-race-and-ethnicity","23":"tag-shootings","24":"tag-u-s-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115024330990563863","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}