CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) released body camera video Wednesday morning that shows a Chicago police officer fatally shoot 24-year-old Reginald Clay Jr.
The shooting happened on April 15, and COPA said it began after officers approached a group of individuals on the 3800 block of West Flournoy Street. The body camera footage showed Clay walking away from the scene. One of the officers was shown running after Clay, who then took off down a gangway.
The body camera footage showed officers chase Clay down a gangway and around a house. Clay was shown turning around and facing officers with a gun in his hand. As Clay approached the officers, one of them opened fire and fatally shot the 24-year-old — less than 20 seconds after the chase began.
It's unclear how many times the officer fired their weapon because the audio doesn’t start until after Clay is on the ground with his hands up.
WBBM has included the body camera footage from the officer who shot Clay, released by COPA, below. Due to the length of the video, it has been edited down in order to fit on the WBBM website. The full video, along with other materials released by COPA, may be found here.
The chase begins about 1:45 into the video. Warning: The video is graphic.
Clay’s family saw the video prior to its release to the public. His father said the shooting was “reckless” and that officers had “no reason at all” to chase his son.
Following the shooting, Chicago police said officers observed Clay leaning into a nearby vehicle. CPD Deputy Chief of Detectives Rahman Muhammad said that’s why officers approached them in the first place.
The body camera footage released by COPA does not provide a view of what led up to the chase.
Muhammad said Clay “brandished” his weapon prior to the shooting, but COPA has differed from that account and has only said a gun was recovered from the scene.
In the video, Clay transferred his gun from his right hand to his left hand and set it on a porch before crumpling to the ground. While police waited for an ambulance, people were shown coming into the yard. They can be heard screaming and trying to see Clay.
In the minutes after the shooting, officers were shown performing first aid on Clay. He later died at an area hospital.
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