Federal lawsuit contends Chicago police officer shot unarmed 13-year-old in the back while making arrest allegedly connected to carjacking

CHICAGO — The family of a 13-year-old boy who is among the youngest people Chicago police have linked to an alleged carjacking in recent years filed a federal lawsuit Thursday accusing an officer of needlessly shooting the unarmed youth in the back during a foot chase.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court on behalf of the teen’s mother, Cierra Corbitt, lists the city and the unidentified officer who fired the shot as defendants and alleged the shooting was a direct result of the city’s failed implementation of a new policy governing “inherently dangerous” foot pursuits.

The teen, who is Black and in seventh grade, is identified only by his initials, A.G. The lawsuit stated that A.G. is currently lying in Stroger Cook County Hospital “with a bullet still lodged in his body after being shot in the back” by the officer on May 18.

Authorities have said the 13-year-old possibly was linked to a carjacking and that he was shot and seriously wounded as he ran from police officers in the South Austin neighborhood.

The officer involved has been relieved of his police powers pending an investigation, the Chicago Police Department has said.

Corbitt addressed reporters Thursday outside the hospital and said her son was shot needlessly.

“It’s crazy because they had no reason to shoot my child,” she said. “He complied with them, and all they had to do was grab him. All I want is justice for my baby. That’s all I want.”

The boy may never walk again, Corbitt said, recalling her son’s love for football and basketball and riding bikes.

Andrew Stroth, a civil rights attorney and managing director of Action Injury Law Group, said all Corbitt is asking for is “full transparency.” And one week after the shooting, those representing Corbitt and her son “don’t know everything that happened.”

“This young man is fighting to be able to walk again,” Stroth said. “He has a major spinal cord injury. He has a bullet still lodged in his back.”

He said Chicago has a “pattern and practice of unjustified use of excessive and lethal force, especially in communities of color,” and took a moment during the news conference to name some victims of previous foot pursuits. He said the legal team is asking for video evidence to be released so Corbitt can “find truth of what happened” and hold the officer accountable.

“How many Black and brown individuals need to be shot, killed or severely injured, like Ms. Corbitt’s son, until the city of Chicago will change and implement a real foot pursuit policy,” the lawyer said.

In addition to alleging civil rights violations, the suit claims the city has allowed police officers to routinely use excessive force, “including deadly force, disproportionately against minorities.”

“Tragically, the deep-(seated) systemic problems that led to the entry of the consent decree — implicit bias and failures in training, supervision, and accountability — still exist today,” the 32-page suit stated. “A.G. is the latest victim of CPD’s systemic failures.”

A city spokeswoman said in an email Thursday the Law Department “has not yet been officially served with the complaint through the proper legal channels,” and that the department would not be commenting because “the matter is now in litigation.”

Police have been clear on connecting the 13-year-old to an alleged carjacking, saying he ran from a stolen car linked to an earlier crime.

Officers were trying “to stop a stolen vehicle wanted in connection with a vehicular hijacking” from Oak Park when the shooting took place, according to a statement from Chicago police.

After he fled on foot, the boy “turned toward officers” and was shot once, Chicago police Superintendent David Brown said during a brief evening news conference at police headquarters last week.

The boy was unarmed, authorities said, as no gun was recovered.

Brown did not say whether the boy did or did not have a gun when he was wounded in the lot of a nearby gas station.

“No shots were fired at officers,” Brown said. He declined to say how many times police fired.

Steven Hart, another attorney on the case, said at the news conference that Brown “had no business casting aspersions to a 13-year-old boy to justify his shooting,” especially without any proof and formal charges.

The Chicago Police Department issued a statement in the wake of the shooting.

“The officer involved in the shooting Wednesday night in the Austin neighborhood has been relieved of police powers, effective today, while the Civilian Office of Police Accountability is conducting this investigation,” according to the statement.

Stroth said his team has spoken to COPA and expects to watch the video evidence “early next week, but we have not seen it yet.” He added Corbitt wants the video evidence to be released to the public.

According to the lawsuit, witnesses reported the officer who was chasing A.G. was “screaming for him to stop running and put his hands up.”

“A.G. was unarmed and did as he was instructed. But the officer still shot him — recklessly, callously and wantonly — right through his back,” the suit stated.

The Police Department has been operating under a draft foot-pursuit policy in the wake of a pair of high-profile shootings of suspects by police, including that of another 13-year-old, Adam Toledo, who was killed by a police officer in the Little Village neighborhood during a chase last year.

Friday closed out one of the last chapters of a nearly 10-month process to finalize the Chicago Police Department’s foot pursuit policy after multiple public comment feedback sessions, coming the same week the family of a man killed by police during one such chase last spring filed suit.

A public comment period on the preliminary policy ended earlier this year. The early version calls for pursuing suspects on foot not to be an automatic response by police going forward.

The policy reflects recommendations from experts and rules that other departments have implemented nationally, including that officers weigh factors such as whether there are other means that could achieve the apprehension of a suspect. Other factors officers should consider are whether the officer is alone and whether support such as helicopter pursuit could be available, as well as whether a suspect could be arrested later.

Hart said Thursday that law enforcement should be trusted to use their handguns and firearms responsibly, “and too often in the city, that is not the case.”

“This is as much an institutional problem with the city’s Police Department as it is the officer’s who shot A.G.,” Hart said. “There simply is not the appropriate emphasis, training and care of officers who are carrying Chicago Police Department-issued firearms. There can be no justification for opening fire on a 13-year-old boy with his hands up and who was unarmed.”

(Staffer Paige Fry contributed.)