The family of Dexter Reed, a 26-year-old Black man who was killed in a hail of bullets fired by police during a traffic stop in Chicago last month, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city and five police officers on Wednesday, CNN reports. The 81-page, 17-count lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, alleges the officers carried out an unlawful and pretextual traffic stop and used excessive force in the shooting. The suit also accuses the city of having a “pattern and practice” of unconstitutional traffic stops and of using excessive and escalatory force. Further, the lawsuit accuses the city of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, stating that Reed was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. “Dexter Reed is not alive today because of the actions of these officers and the inactions of the city of Chicago,” civil rights attorney Andrew M. Stroth said Wednesday in a news conference with Reed’s family. “Nothing brings Dexter back, but this family doesn’t want it to happen to yet another family in the city of Chicago.”
The lawsuit comes just over a month after Reed was fatally shot by Chicago police during a traffic stop, “purportedly for a seatbelt violation,” according to the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, the city agency responsible for investigating police shootings. The office released body-camera footage of the incident two weeks ago, alleging that Reed appeared to fire first at the officers, who then returned fire as many as 96 times over 41 seconds. Reed was later taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. One officer was shot in the wrist and was hospitalized in good condition, Chicago police said. The shooting remains under investigation by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said her office is also investigating to determine whether any officers would face criminal charges.
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