Illinois State Police release video from troopers' fatal shooting of Jalen Carpenter in Woodlawn
Illinois State Police have released video footage showing the moments before two state troopers shot and killed a man last month in the Woodlawn neighborhood.
State police have said troopers were responding to a domestic violence call around 10:40 p.m. on April 15 in the 6500 block of South Champlain Avenue. Police said the incident started on Interstate 57, and troopers chased the vehicle involved to the city's Woodlawn neighborhood. When they arrived, they said they found an armed man at the scene.
The man, later identified as 24-year-old Jalen Carpenter, was killed in a struggle with police.
Video footage released on Friday, which includes body camera video and surveillance camera footage, shows police approaching Carpenter on the sidewalk, and a male state trooper asking him, "So, what happened right now?"
"Me and my girl were arguing, but that's it," Carpenter responded.
"Okay, do you have any weapons on you?" the officer asked.
"Uh uh," Carpenter said.
The officer then asked Carpenter to lift up his shirt before the two began struggling, blocking the view of the officer's camera, but Carpenter can be heard asking "what you doing? Stop, leave me alone!"
The officer can then be heard telling Carpenter to "stop reaching," and shouting "he has a gun!"
Surveillance video from a nearby house shows Carpenter holding a gun as the officer struggles in attempts to restrain him, and Carpenter's gun firing at least once.
Both officers can then be seen shooting Carpenter multiple times.
Carpenter's father, Stan, has said he wants a full investigation into his son's death.
"He took his last breath in the cold street and died alone," he said last month. "I wanna see body cameras. I want—I want—I want to see the evidence."
Stan Carpenter said his son was a father to a son who is almost 2 years old.
"I'm just, I'm hurt right now. My family is hurt behind this. He was a good kid, worked for Amazon, you know, made some mistakes in his life, and you know, he was, he was doing good, man," he said.
Jalen Carpenter's mother said he was the eldest of five children.
Carpenter was on electronic monitoring on an aggravated assault charge at the time.
The two officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative status pending the outcome of the ongoing investigation by the Illinois State Police Division of Internal Investigation.
Police said all information and evidence from the investigation will be provided to the Cook County State's Attorney's office for review.