Chicago police recently released a video in the arrest of a man who was charged in the severe beating of a female officer. Police officials say, the officer "chose not" to shoot because of scrutiny on “the national news.”
WGN-TV reports that, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson says the officer didn't shoot the violent suspect because she did not want her family or the police department subjected to national media scrutiny.
“This attack went on for several minutes,” he said. “As I was at the hospital last night visiting with her, she looked at me and said she thought she was going to die and she knew that she should shoot this guy but she chose not to because she didn’t want her family or the department to have to go through the scrutiny the next day on the national news.”
Johnson says the video is an example of what can happen when officers are under such extreme scrutiny.
“Let her go, let her go,” an officer can be heard yelling at the suspect in the video. “We’re tasering, it’s not working,” an officer shouts during the struggle captured on bodycam footage in the October 5th incident.
The suspect tested positive for PCP according to the WGN report.
The female officer is still recovering from multiple injuries.
A link to the complete Chicago Police Department video that was released can be found here.