Dexter Reed shot 13 times by Chicago police officers, autopsy finds

That officer — just 23 years old — fired at least 50 times during the 41 seconds of gunfire. He was one of three officers who reloaded their weapons, according to the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.

Along with video footage, COPA released copies of reports filled out by the four officers who fired their weapons. In those reports, the four said they fired a total of 79 rounds, less than the 96 initially reported last week.

Sharon Fairley, a professor from practice at the University of Chicago Law School and former chief administrator of COPA, said each of the four officers who fired their guns will be required to explain why they expended each round they fired.

“The idea here is that an officer can’t just discharge a firearm just because the colleague next to him or 10 feet away from him is discharging,” Fairley said. “They have to be able to identify a threat and use force in response to a specific threat themselves. That’s what the policy says, that’s what the law requires.”

Days after the shooting, COPA Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten wrote to police Superintendent Larry Snelling recommending that the four officers who fired at Reed be stripped of their police powers during the ongoing investigation.

“Specifically, COPA is uncertain how the officers could have seen this seat belt violation given their location relative to Reed’s vehicle and the dark tints on Reed’s vehicle windows. This evidence raises serious concerns about the validity of the traffic stop that led to the officers’ encounter with Reed,” Kersten wrote.

Snelling, at an unrelated news conference Friday, said the officers involved in the shooting still had not been interviewed by investigators and stressed that CPD is fully cooperating with COPA. The department’s officers have initiated nearly 50,000 fewer traffic stops in the first three and a half months of 2024 compared with 2023, while felony arrests are up 9%, Snelling added.

Historically, COPA investigations have taken months, if not more than a year, to conclude.

Once finished, COPA will submit its findings and recommendations to Snelling. If COPA sustains an allegation of misconduct, the superintendent must then decide whether or not to lodge administrative charges against an officer. Those charges could potentially lead to a suspension or firing from the Police Department.

Records show that an earlier investigation of the officers involved was launched on Feb. 26 — less than a month before Reed was shot — and it involved an allegation of unreasonable search and seizure that “was purportedly also based on a seatbelt violation,” Kersten wrote in her letter to Snelling.

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