(CBS) – The family of Kajuan Raye, the 19-year-old Dolton man fatally shot by a Chicago police sergeant last week, filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit Tuesday.
Raye was fatally wounded during a foot chase late Nov. 23 in Englewood after he bolted when a police car pulled up to a bus stop where he was standing. Family members say Raye ran because, as a black man, he feared the police.
Attorney Michael Oppenheimer, center, talks about a federal lawsuit he filed on behalf of the family of Kajuan Raye. (Lisa Fielding/WBBM)
“His fears turned out to be, unfortunately, correct,” attorney Michael Oppenheimer, who represents Raye’s surviving family members, said at a news conference.
The lawsuit alleges the officer used “unjustified and excessive use of force” and names the sergeant and the Chicago Police Department as defendants. The federal lawsuit filed Tuesday seeks monetary damages, Oppenheimer says, but he added the family hopes the incident brings about social change, too.
The police sergeant was responding to a disturbance call at 65th and Marshfield and told investigators Raye twice pointed a “weapon” at him. None was recovered; Raye was shot in the back, an autopsy showed.
“That is simply ridiculous,” Oppenheimer said of the claim Raye had a weapon. “It is another attempt to cover up another fatal shooting by the Chicago Police Department.”
The sergeant was involved the previous fatal shooting of another suspect, in 2013, sources confirm to CBS 2. A lawsuit is pending in that case.
The sergeant has been stripped of his police powers. The Independent Police Review Authority is investigating.
Raye’s family calls on the next Cook County state’s attorney, Kim Foxx, to open a criminal investigation into the Raye shooting, Oppenheimer says.
“The way the media is portraying my brother is surprising me,” Kaia Raye, 15, Kujuan’s sister, said. “I just want justice for my brother, this is crazy. I can’t believe it still.”
from CBS Chicago http://ift.tt/2fOaaTw
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