Police body cam shows Harith Augustus shot dead by Chicago cop was armed with GUN sparking protests

Harith Augustus, 37, was shot dead during a confrontation with police Saturday- they say they believed he was pulling a gun on them 

Saturday’s fatal police involved shooting that sparked violent protests in Chicago was captured on police body camera which shows the man who was killed was asarmed with a handgun. 

Harith Augustus, 37, was identified as the man who was shot by police by the Medical Examiner’s office, according to the Chicago Tribune. 

The father to a five-year-old, Augustus, also known as Snoop the Barber, worked in a barbershop near where he was shot. 

His death set off several hours of unrest in the South Side neighborhood, as angry protesters and police clashed violently.    

By Saturday evening in tensions escalated between angry residents and baton-wielding officers.

Four protesters were arrested and some police officers suffered minor injuries from thrown rock and bottles, some of which were filled with urine. Two squad cars were also damaged.

Chicago cops shot a man dead on the city's South Shore neighborhood Saturday evening sparking a violent protest of 150 demonstrators, the clash pictured above 

Chicago cops shot a man dead on the city’s South Shore neighborhood Saturday evening sparking a violent protest of 150 demonstrators, the clash pictured above 

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Augustus wasn’t a known gang member and had no recent arrest history.

Police found a handgun and two magazines of bullets at the shooting site and sent them for testing, Guglielmi said.

The shooting happened after officers patrolling on foot tried to question the man over a ‘bulge around his waistband’ that suggested he was armed, patrol chief Fred Waller told reporters. 

The man broke free and ran from the officers, who believed ‘he appeared to be reaching for a weapon’ and shot him, he said.

During the protest that followed the shooting, officers pulled people to the ground and struck them with batons.

Cops brought out their batons as demonstrators threw rocks and bottles filled with urine at officers and jumped on squad cars 

Cops brought out their batons as demonstrators threw rocks and bottles filled with urine at officers and jumped on squad cars 

Police reportedly opened fire after they say Augustus 'exhibited characteristics of an armed person' appeared to reach for his gun, sparking the furious protest on Chicago's South Side

Police reportedly opened fire after they say Augustus ‘exhibited characteristics of an armed person’ appeared to reach for his gun, sparking the furious protest on Chicago’s South Side

A woman tries to calm a man down as he yells at a police officer at the scene of a police involved shooting in Chicago, on Saturday, July 14, 2018. (Nuccio DiNuzzo/Chicago Tribune via AP)

A woman tries to calm a man down as he yells at a police officer at the scene of a police involved shooting in Chicago, on Saturday, July 14, 2018. (Nuccio DiNuzzo/Chicago Tribune via AP)

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which investigates officer-involved shootings, said it was analyzing the video and asking anyone who may have captured cellphone footage of it to share the footage with the agency. 

The agency will release the video to the public within 60 days, unless ordered not to by a court, said agency spokesman Ephraim Eaddy.

It was at least the third time in the last two weeks that a Chicago police officer shot someone.

Chicago has a troubled history of police shootings. The city erupted in protest in 2015 after the release of a video showing a white police officer shoot a black 17-year-old, Laquan McDonald 16 times a year earlier. 

The officer, Jason Van Dyke, was charged with murder. McDonald’s death led to the ouster of the police chief and a series of reforms meant to prevent future police abuses and to hold officers accountable.



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