Video After The Jump
The Chicago Reporter has obtained disturbing footage of a police officer opening fire on a car full of six unarmed teens who had been pulled over for a traffic violation by two other cops.
One of the minors got out of the car and ran.
When Chicago police officer Marco Proano arrived on the scene he exited his patrol car, pulled out his gun and pointed it sideways at the rest of the passengers still in the car. At that point the driver began to back up the vehicle.
Proano then violated Chicago Police Department policy by opening fire. He let off 12 shots until the car crashed into a light pole.
Two of the car's passengers were injured. One person was shot in the hip and heel. The other was hit in the shoulder.
According to the Chicago Reporter, CPD policy prohibits officers from firing into a moving vehicle, unless necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm to the officer or another person.
That was not the case in this situation.
The incident happened on December 22, 2013, but the video has just been released by retired Cook County Judge Andrew Berman.
“I’ve seen lots of gruesome, grisly crimes,” Berman said. “But this is disturbing on a whole different level. My first reaction was, if those are white kids in the car, there’s no way they [would] shoot. You don’t start firing into a car full of unarmed people. You just don’t do that.”
It was later discovered that the car the minors were in was stolen.
Berman found the driver in his courtroom not guilty of possessing a stolen motor vehicle. He said the State’s Attorney failed to prove that the teen knew the car was stolen, and his verdict would have been the same even if no shots had been fired.
A federal lawsuit has been filed against the city and the three officers involved on behalf of the teens. A settlement of $360,000 was agreed to, but must be approved by The City Council
Officer Proano is still on active duty pending the results of an internal investigation.
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