WEST HUMBOLDT PARK — No charges will be filed against the four Chicago police officers who shot and killed Dexter Reed after a shootout that began when Reed fired at one officer during a West Humboldt Park traffic stop last year.
The officers shot at Reed 96 times in 41 seconds after they stopped him over an alleged seat-belt violation in March 2024, according to the city’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke announced Wednesday that her office would not file criminal charges because the evidence her office reviewed did not warrant them.
“The evidence is clear and overwhelming that we would not be able to meet our burden and secure conviction, therefore we will not be charging any of the police officers involved in this incident,” Burke said at a press conference.
Reed fired first during the encounter, hitting one officer in his forearm, after police shouted at him to roll down the windows of his SUV and drew their weapons, according to the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. The officers were part of a plainclothes tactical team, drove an unmarked SUV and had a record of complaints about unwarranted and aggressive traffic stops.
Burke said the officers were fearful of their lives and did not commit a crime because Reed shot first, while also citing video evidence.
“What happened that evening was a tragedy. A young life ended, a police officer was shot with a potentially career-ending injury and many other lives were upended,” she said Wednesday. “An entire neighborhood was traumatized. The encounter lasted about a minute and escalated quickly.”
In total, 107 gunshots rang out, Burke said.
Burke’s decision was endorsed by the State’s Attorney’s Appellate Prosecutor office, which independently viewed the video evidence and also concluded that the officers should not be charged, according to a public letter from the office sent to Burke last month.
“The family is disappointed with today’s decision by the State’s Attorney and will advance their civil rights case in federal court. This case is about an unlawful traffic stop, 96 shots and the tragic and unjustified death of Dexter Reed,” said Andrew Stroth, an attorney representing Reed’s family, said in a statement.
Of the four officers from the 11th Police District involved in the shooting, one quit last November and three are active but on administrative duties at the West Side district, said a police spokesperson Wednesday.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability is still investigating the shooting and officials are “working to close it in a timely manner,” said spokesperson Jennifer Rottner.
Nicole Banks, Reed’s mother, filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city earlier this year, alleging that officers “demonstrated a gross disregard for the sanctity of human life” when they fired nearly 100 times in response to Reed, who she said suffered from mental illness and experienced hypervigilance.
In April, the City Council’s finance committee narrowly rejected a proposed $1.25 million settlement in the lawsuit.
Before the settlement proposal, city lawyers argued in court that Reed was “lawfully stopped” for driving a car with dark tinted windows and that he refused to comply with orders, rolling the windows up instead of down, leading officers to defensively draw their weapons. The city also denied the shooting was “race motivated,” according to court records.
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