Family of teen killed by Chicago cop files federal lawsuit

FOX 32 NEWS - The family of a teen killed by Chicago police last week is suing the officers involved. They’re also calling for the release of any video related to the shooting. 

“People can say all they want about, 'he shouldn't have been in a stolen car.' That is for the court system to have decide…But these police officers decided that for whatever reason, they were going to play judge, jury and executioner,” said Michael Oppenheimer, who’s the O’Neal family attorney.

The family of 18-year-old Paul O’Neal filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Monday against the officers who killed their loved one.

Chicago police pulled over O’Neal in what they say was a stolen Jaguar. He then took off and sideswiped a police car.

Officers then shot at the vehicle and when O’Neal got out and ran, that's when police shot and killed him.

“If he was in a stolen vehicle and he did commit a crime, that is for the courts system to decide what his sentencing should be. Not the police officer, executing this boy. Shooting him in the back, killing him unarmed,” said O’Neal family spokesman Ja’Mal Green.

The family is calling for video to be released of the incident, but Chicago police say one key piece is missing.

Police say the body cam of the officer who fired the fatal shot did not record the incident.

The department and the Independent Police Review Authority are looking into why the body cam didn't record.

A police spokesman says the cameras were just introduced to that district 8 to 10 days before this shooting.

"I thought we were starting to resolve this when we got body cams for officers and we got dash that may have worked so that we could have transparency. But, once again we're back to the same old thing. Oops, I think there's some problems here, but the body cams weren't working. The public should not accept that. We cannot accept that,” said Oppenheimer.