Chicago police shot a young man 96 times for not wearing his seat belt, and the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which is investigating the shooting, wants the four cops fired, including one who fired 50 shots. 

It’s agreed that Dexter Reed, the motorist, fired the first shot, setting off a hail of bullets by police. Reed’s relatives stormed Chicago’s 11th police district, where the shooting occurred, and police arrested one of Reed’s relatives.

Andrea Kersten, COPA Chief Administrator, raised “grave concerns” about the officers in a letter to Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling last week.

Kersten has questioned whether a group of cops lied about why they stopped a driver in Humboldt Park last month, setting off a gun battle that wounded one of the officers and killed motorist Reed. 

Police fired 96 times in 41 seconds at Reed, who fell to the ground, and police fired more bullets into his body as he lay on the ground, Kersten said.

Five tactical officers from the Harrison District had approached Reed’s GMC Terrain with heavily tinted windows, which was apparently parked in a crosswalk in the 3800 block of West Ferdinand Street.

Reed was struck by gunfire multiple times and was transported to the hospital and later pronounced dead. A gun was recovered on the front passenger seat of Mr. Reed’s vehicle.

The shooting reminds me of another deadly traffic stop and shooting by police that occurred in Akron, Ohio., where police emptied their pistols.

Jayland Walker was killed by police after jumping out of his car following a June 2022 traffic stop. Police stopped Walker for having a broken taillight and a missing license plate.

Police shot Walker at least 40 times, according to the Summitt County Medical Examiner. 

Police claim Walker fired at the police, but the medical examiner said his hands were not checked for gunshot residue, which is unreliable. The FBI stopped using gunshot residue evidence in 2006. The Summit Medical Examiner’s Office stopped collecting gunshot residue in 2016.

The autopsy on Walker said no illegal drugs or alcohol were detected in his body.

In a letter to Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling Kersten also raised “grave concerns about the officers’ ability to assess what is a necessary, reasonable, and proportional use of deadly force.”

The letter was sent last week, days before COPA released a video of the shooting. 

COPA told Snelling that it recommended that he relieve four officers of their police powers during the pendency of this investigation. Snelling said he wouldn’t remove the officers until the investigation is complete.