Video shows Chicago police killing Anthony Alvarez as he runs away: 'Why are you shooting me?'

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Washington Post

By Hannah Knowles

Two days after the fatal Chicago police shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo following a foot chase, officers in the city killed a 22-year-old man as he ran away, newly released video showed Wednesday, renewing demands for police accountability and vows of change from local leaders.

The body-camera and surveillance footage show a Chicago police officer firing several times as Anthony Alvarez has his back turned. Alvarez falls to the ground and drops what authorities identified as a firearm.

“Why are you shooting me?” Alvarez asks as he moans on someone’s front lawn. “You had a gun!” an officer shouts back.

The new footage underscored calls to reduce deadly foot chases already sparked by Toledo’s killing, as distraught families and activists say police encounters escalate unnecessarily. Police have released few details about what led up to Alvarez’s shooting, but Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot suggested Wednesday that it stemmed from a low-level traffic offense. She called foot chases dangerous for everyone involved, as police promised new policies in the coming weeks.



Protesters call for justice in the shooting death of Anthony Alvarez outside the headquarters of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability on Tuesday. Chicago’s independent police review board has released video of the 22-year-old Latino man who was shot in the back late last month during a foot chase. (Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune/AP)


Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/04/28/anthony-alvarez-shooting-video/

[bringthePaine]

1. cynics might see this epidemic as a policy move to contain ruinous judicial awards for non-fatal

shooting incidents - fatality excused as "self-defense" even in clearly ludicrous applications

[rgbecker]

2. I keep waiting for the 2A people to join in the protests.

Guy has a gun and that's the reason he is being shot. How much more of a straight forward attack on the 2nd amendment is that?

No indication he pointed it at anybody. Apparently dropped the gun as requested.

[Watchfoxheadexplodes]

3. I wouldn't run from police with my gun

If that was an illegal weapon he was carrying I as a gun owner would be glad it was taken off the streets.

[AZLD4Candidate]

4. After the way minorities are treated by police in this country, I'd run even a cop smiled at me

and told me good morning. If I were a minority, I'd be terrified to be within visual distance of anyone with a badge.

[happy feet]

6. +1,000,000

[happy feet]

7. Any excuse after the fact to justify the killing

They couldn't have known whether legal or illegal carry before they shot him --- but let's surmise anyway

[Watchfoxheadexplodes]

8. Doesn't matter

Known to police doesn't mean they played golf together.

[AZLD4Candidate]

10. Victim blaming and shaming.

I'm sorry for that.

[NickB79]

11. As a gun owner, I also want illegal guns off the street

But I don't want it carried out by cops shooting people IN THE FUCKING BACK AS THEY RUN.

This isn't Judge Dredd. Cops don't get to yell "I am the law!" and execute criminals on the spot.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

5. Oh for Christ sake. He pulled a gun out.

Don’t draw a weapon when armed people are chasing you.

[Watchfoxheadexplodes]

9. But haven't you heard

The subject MIGHT not shoot you or some innocent person.