CHICAGO _ An independent police review agency has determined that a Chicago police officer was justified in fatally shooting 25-year-old Ronald Johnson III in the back in October 2014.
In a ruling released Friday evening, the Independent Police Review Authority, which investigates shootings by police, said Officer George Hernandez was justified in shooting the African-American man as he ran from police because evidence supports officers' contention that he had a gun.
Attorneys for Johnson's family have alleged that officers planted the gun and conspired to cover up the truth about Johnson's shooting on the South Side.
The review agency ruled that the preponderance of the evidence indicated that Johnson was armed and that Hernandez reasonably believed he was a threat. Witnesses gave conflicting statements, the ruling said, but investigators recovered a Browning 9 mm pistol with grass and Johnson's blood on it beneath his hand. The report says agency officials do not believe that all shootings of people fleeing with guns would be justified.
"In this case, there are specific and numerous circumstances that make such use of force reasonable," the report said.
An attorney for Johnson's family could not be reached for comment.
Video of the shooting was released late last year just after the city was forced to release video of Officer Jason Van Dyke shooting black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times. The McDonald video led to sustained protests fueled by long-standing grievances about police conduct, particularly among African-Americans, and the U.S. Justice Department is continuing to investigate whether Chicago police have systematically violated citizens' rights. Mayor Rahm Emanuel, meanwhile, has tried to stay ahead of federal authorities by announcing a series of reforms.
Before the McDonald video was released, the Independent Police Review Authority had almost never ruled a shooting by police unjustified, and Tribune investigations have shown the agency to be slow and prone to clearing police, even when evidence suggested misconduct. After the scandal erupted, however, Emanuel replaced the agency's leader with former federal prosecutor Sharon Fairley, who has acknowledged shortcomings in the agency's past work and ruled several shootings unjustified.
Fairley will be the first head of the Civilian Office on Police Accountability, the agency that city officials are building to replace the beleaguered review agency.
In the McDonald case, Van Dyke is charged with murder, but Cook County prosecutors declined to press charges in Johnson's shooting.
According to prosecutors, early on Oct. 12, 2014, Johnson and others left a party before a gunman shot out the rear window of their vehicle. Later, police saw Johnson running with a gun in his right hand, and officers pursued him, prosecutors said. He was confronted by an officer who tried to arrest him, but a scuffle ensued, and Johnson broke free as the officer fell to the ground, according to prosecutors.
Then Hernandez arrived, and video showed he opened fire about two seconds after leaving his car as Johnson ran toward a park with his back to officers.
Two of the five shots struck Johnson, one in the back of his shoulder and the other in the back of the leg, autopsy reports show.
