Chicago to pay $4.1M in police shooting

The incident was caught on video. On June 7, 2011, a Chicago police officer fired three shots into the back of a man as he lay bleeding on a roadway. It turned out that the shooting, according to news reports, was the third by the officer in six months and the second that ended in death.  The City Council’s finance committee recommended a $4.1 million settlement in a subsequent civil rights lawsuit that was expected to be approved. The Chicago Police Department had ruled the shooting was justified but Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy later told The Chicago Tribune that the case was “a big problem” and he said the officer should not have been on the street given his history of shootings. The officer also reportedly admitted he had drunk “multiple” beers before going on duty the night of the incident. Learn more about civil rights lawsuits.