Posted on April 30, 2020

Horrific Moment Cop Shoots Unarmed Chef in the Back

Associated Press and Snejana Farberov, Daily Mail, April 29, 2020

Chicago released a trove of body camera, security and cellphone video recordings on Tuesday showing a police officer shooting an unarmed man in the back on a subway escalator two months ago.

Ariel Roman, a 33-year-old short-order cook, was shot twice after police attempted to arrest him for walking between train cars on February 28.

The Chicago Transit Authority and police body cam videos for the first time provide a detailed look at how the incident unfolded from the time Roman used a subway’s gangway doors to when he was shot for the second time after scrambling away from officers up the escalator.

Roman survived but was severely injured and has undergone multiple surgeries. He is suing the City of Chicago and the two officers involved in the shooting.

In the most striking video segment from a CTA camera, Roman is seen bounding up to the top of the escalator in the busy red line station holding a coat in his right hand.

With the pursuing officers about 10 feet behind him, and with his back still turned to them, a female officer shoots him and he immediately slams face first onto the floor. The officer reholsters her gun and appears to handcuff him.

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Mayor Lori Lightfoot characterized the shooting at the time as ‘extremely disturbing’ based on a short bystander video. {snip}

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Minutes before the shooting, video shows a seemingly relaxed Roman walking from one subway car to another, while listening to earphones. One officer follows him into the other car and approaches him as he pulls off his earphones to listen. Seconds later, he steps off the train at the Grand station stop.

Off the train, officers speak to Roman briefly before he seems to bolt for the escalator, with the officers on his heels. The bystander video released earlier shows officers tackling Roman, pepper spraying and Tasering him as he tries to wriggle from their grasp.

In the cellphone video, Roman can be heard saying, ‘I did nothing to you guys.’ A male officer on his back keeps yelling, ‘Stop resisting!’ He is also heard purportedly urging his female partner, ‘shoot him!’

Moments later, as Roman stands, he is shot in the stomach and he then scurries up the stairs. He is shot a second time in the lower back when he gets to the top.

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