Chicago police released body camera footage showing the moment an officer fatally shot a 24-year-old man in the back as he fled during a pursuit last month.
Family members of Maurice Granton Jr demanded the Chicago Police Department release the footage, claiming the father-of-two was unarmed when he was shot on June 6 in Bronzeville.
Granton’s relatives say the shooting death was unjustified and he should still be alive.
Maurice Granton Jr, a 24-year-old father-of-two, was killed on June 6 in an officer-involved shooting in Chicago
Police released body camera on Wednesday showing the moment an officer fatally shot Granton in the back as he tried to hop over a fence
As Granton lay on the ground the officer who shot him continued to point his weapon at Granton and order him to ‘stay down’
In one video released by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability on Wednesday, an officer is seen chasing Granton through an alley when Granton hops over a wooden fence.
The officer appears to hurt his foot and stops his pursuit. In the background of the video, several shots can be heard. It’s not clear if another officer who had been pursuing Granton from the opposite direction fired the shots.
The second body camera footage shows the moment the second officer encounters Granton. Granton is seen running through a field towards a black fence. As he attempts to hop over the fence, the officer fires his gun hitting Granton in the back.
Granton immediately falls, writhing on the ground as the officer continues to point his weapon at the man and yells for him to ‘stay down’. The officer then tells other cops who arrived on the scene: ‘There’s a weapon right there! There’s a weapon right there’.
A longer version of the video shows the officer who shot Granton telling him to ‘stay woke’ as his friends begin to crowd around. The officer repeatedly tells other cops to go get the gun Granton allegedly dropped and radios for help dealing with the crowd.
As they wait for an ambulance to arrive, an officer checks on Granton who appears to be moving slightly on the ground.
‘The offender is down. We need the ambulance over here. We need the ambulance over here,’ the officer who shot Granton tells dispatch. ‘Maurice stay woke.’
An autopsy revealed that Granton died from a gunshot wound to the back.
The Chicago Police Department said Granton pulled out a gun (pictured) as he was running from police
Police said they wanted to question Granton about an alleged drug transaction when he fled
Shortly after the June 6 shooting death, the Chicago Police Department released a photo of the gun they claim Granton was carrying.
A police spokesman said the weapon was found about 20 feet from where Granton was shot.
The department said officers were trying to question Granton over an alleged drug transaction when he fled.
They said he ‘produced a weapon’ as he ran and there is proof the weapon had been fired.
The department last month released security footage showing Granton and another man sitting outside a building moments before the shooting.
Granton’s family said he was not armed and his shooting death was unjustified. Pictured above is Granton’s father speaking to media
Mourners gather outside the spot where Granton was shot and killed in Chicago on June 6
Chief communications officer Anthony Guglielmi tweeted that the video shows the ‘offender holding what turned out to be a semi automatic handgun that was later recovered by officers’.
Because of the quality of the video, it’s hard to tell if Granton did in fact pull out a weapon while he was sitting with the man.
Family attorney Andrew M. Stroth says the body camera video contradicts police claims that there was an armed confrontation before the shooting.
A police spokesman says the department is ‘fully cooperating’ with the investigation. The officer who shot Granton has since been placed on 30-day administrative leave, a department policy.