A Chicago police officer who recently shot an unarmed teen in the back has been relieved of his police powers pending an open investigation into the questionable shooting. Although the officer involved claims the teen-aimed a gun at him twice during the pursuit, no weapon has been recovered and his autopsy revealed that the teen was shot in the back.
At 11:07 p.m. on Wednesday, a Chicago police sergeant was responding to a battery in progress when he confronted 19-year-old Kajuan Raye who reportedly matched the description of the suspect. According to the sergeant, Raye immediately took off running down the street before turning back and aiming a gun at the sergeant twice during the pursuit. Fearing for his life, the sergeant shot Raye, who was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital at 11:51 p.m.
But according to the Chicago Police Department, no weapon had been recovered from the scene after at least a day of searching the entire grid. On Friday, the Cook County medical examiner’s office determined from Raye’s autopsy that the teen had died from a gunshot wound to the back.
The next day, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson relieved the unidentified CPD sergeant of his police powers after reviewing inconsistencies within the sergeant’s version of events. During a press conference on Saturday, Johnson admitted, “We have some missing information in our timeline.”
Johnson added, “Unfortunately, we still don’t have a complete synopsis of exactly how and what transpired.”
Despite the fact that the department announced in September that all officers on patrol would be required to wear body cameras, the CPD sergeant who killed Raye was not wearing a body cam at the time of the fatal shooting. Although a surveillance camera from a nearby church briefly recorded Raye running away from the sergeant, the footage did not record the actual shooting.
After pleading guilty to a theft charge in September 2015, Raye violated his court-ordered supervision this year. Due to the fact that Raye had no involvement with the battery suspect who allegedly matched his description, police suspect the teen began running because an arrest warrant was issued in his name on July 25.
According to Raye’s mother, Karonisha Ramsey, her son had called her a few hours before his death to tell her that he would be home for Thanksgiving dinner.
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