CHICAGO _ The body camera of a Chicago police officer who fatally shot an unarmed teenager on the South Side last week was not recording when he opened fire, police officials said Monday.
Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the department is investigating why the equipment didn't capture the shooting of 18-year-old Paul O'Neal, who was struck in the back.
The officer, as well as two others involved in the shooting, had received the camera equipment just recently, Guglielmi said.
The department moved swiftly in the days after the Thursday night shooting to relieve all three officers of their police powers after a preliminary determination concluded they had violated department policy.
O'Neal was shot near 74th Street and Merrill Avenue after he crashed a reportedly stolen Jaguar into two Chicago police vehicles and took off running.
Two officers had opened fire at O'Neal while he was in the Jaguar, according to police sources. A third officer who had been in one of the police vehicles struck by the Jaguar gave chase after O'Neal fled on foot and fatally shot him. The Cook County medical examiner's office said O'Neal was struck in the back.
Police have recovered video from body cameras and dashboard cameras that captured parts of the shooting, including footage of an officer firing at the Jaguar after it struck the first vehicle, sources have told the Chicago Tribune.
But Superintendent Eddie Johnson, speaking at an unrelated news conference Monday morning, confirmed that the fatal encounter was not captured on the officer's body camera.
The city rolled out body cameras in 2015 with a pilot project in the Shakespeare District. Department officials recently expanded the program to six additional districts, including the South Shore community where O'Neal was shot.
Chicago's use of cameras, those on the body and dashboard, has been increased significantly in recent months as the department faced one of the biggest crises in its history. The release of a video last fall of a white officer shooting black teen Laquan McDonald 16 times led to protests around the city, the firing of former Superintendent Garry McCarthy and the launching of a U.S. Justice Department probe of policing practices in Chicago.
The city also has a new policy that calls for the release of videos of shootings within 60 days unless a law enforcement agency seeks an additional 30-day extension.
Johnson moved quickly over the weekend to strip all three officers of their police powers, assigning each to paid administrative duties.
Johnson has not commented specifically on which departmental policies were violated in the shooting, but in 2015, the department revised its use-of-force policy to prohibit firing on a moving vehicle if it was the only threat against the officers or others.
