Cops Stripped of Police Powers After Fatal South Shore Shooting

CHICAGO, IL -- Two Chicago police officers were stripped of their police powers after fatally shooting an 18-year-old man who was in a stolen Jaguar Thursday evening, news reports said.

The shooting happened around 7:30 p.m. in the 7400 block of South Merrill Avenue in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood. Police had stopped the car, which had reportedly been stolen in Bolingbrook and was spotted in the city earlier in the day.

CPD First Deputy Superintendent John Escalante said as officers got out of their car, the driver of the Jaguar “put the vehicle in drive and literally forced his way out.” The car sideswiped a squad car and also hit a parked car on the street, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Three officers fired their service weapons. The 18-year-old man, Paul O’Neal, of the 1700 block of East 70th Street, was taken to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead. A 17-year-old boy in the car was also taken into police custody.

Two officers were injured during the incident and treated for non life-threatening injuries, Escalante said.

CPD Superintendent Eddie Johnson is said to have spent most of Friday afternoon with “top advisors and command staff reviewing the preliminary information from the incident” where it was determined that three officers discharged their weapons.

"Given what is known thus far, it appears that departmental policies may have been violated by at least two of the police officers,” according to a statement issued Friday night by CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.

"As of now, the two officers have been relieved of their police powers and will be assigned to administrative positions within the agency pending the outcome of the [Independent Police Review Authority's] investigation and our continuing internal administrative review."