Newly released police body-camera footage shows the moment a 24-year-old man was fatally shot by a cop last month in Chicago as he ran away from officers.
The footage, released Wednesday by Chicago’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability, shows an officer firing at Maurice Granton Jr. from a sidewalk as Granton attempts to scale a wrought iron fence on June 6.
Moments before the shooting, the officer can be seen giving chase in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the city’s South Side.
After several shots are fired at Granton, he is seen struggling and wailing while on the ground as the officer points his gun at him and orders him to “stay down, stay down.”
When other officers arrive, the officer who shot Granton says there’s a weapon on the ground that appeared to be several yards away.
“It’s a weapon right there, get the weapon … stay down, man,” the cop orders.
The video then shows a mass of people swarm the area — some of whom can be heard frantically shouting, “Maurice!” — as Granton lies on the ground.
An autopsy revealed that Granton was shot in the back.
Authorities said he fled when cops tried to question him as part of a drug investigation. At some point, officials said, he pulled out a gun, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Andrew Stroth, an attorney for the Granton family, said the footage shows the “unjustifiable, unconstitutional execution of Maurice Granton,” the news outlet reported.
“Maurice Granton is running away and, without cause or provocation, the officer shoots multiple times, killing him,” Stroth said. “Some of the family members had to leave the room because the video was so devastating.”
Granton’s family claims he was unarmed at the time he was shot.
The police department issued a brief statement later Wednesday saying it is “fully cooperating” with COPA’s investigation of the shooting.
The officer who shot Granton was placed on desk duty for 30 days, the Sun-Times reported.
With Post wires


