Video shows struggle and Oak Park police shooting that killed Christian Wallace

New video released Tuesday by the Oak Park Police Department shows tense moments from an officer-involved shooting this past spring.

At 9:10 p.m. Sunday, May 31, police pulled over Christian Wallace, 38, at a gas station at the Harrison Street and Austin Boulevard, along the border with Chicago's South Austin neighborhood. Wallace was alone in the vehicle, police said.

During the stop, the officer told Wallace to get out of the car, and performed a pat-down, police said at the time. During the pat-down, police said the officer found a gun hidden on the driver's body, police said at the time.

As seen in the video, the traffic stop started calmly. The officer explains why he stopped Wallace.

"You switched lanes without signaling, and then when you came in here… you signaled, you got to signal outside a hundred feet," the officer says.

But police said once the officer found the gun, a long physical struggle over control of the weapon began. Wallace ended up wrestling the gun back from the officer, police said, at which point the officer shot Wallace, police said at the time.

Bodycam footage shows the officer and Wallace struggling over the gun outside of the vehicle he was in at the gas station. The body cam video then goes black, which the officer later states it fell off. 

Oak Park police also released security cam and dashcam video of the altercation.

Wallace was taken to Loyola Medical Center in Maywood, where he died of his injuries less than an hour later. The officer was also taken to Loyola Medical Center in Maywood to be treated for injuries and was released early Monday morning.

However, the officer remains on medical leave for an injury suffered during the struggle.

As police release the video, Wallace's mother is decrying what happened to her son.

"That was my only son, and I'll never be able to see him again, never," said Denise Butler.

Wallace was himself the father to four children, all under the age of 12.

"He didn't deserve to be removed from this earth like that. It's not right," Butler said. "I just want justice for my son."

An attorney for Wallace said his rights were violated regardless of the fact that he had a gun.

"The video shows that Mr. Wallace was armed, and we acknowledge that, but the Constitution does not require perfection before it provides protection," said attorney Abby Bakos of Bakos Law.

Bakos was only able to view one camera recording of the incident before Tuesday. She represents the family and is now watching the rest of the video with the public.

Butler said she is not ready to watch it.

"Who wants to see their son get shot? Who wants to see that?" she said. "No one wants to see their child get shot, under no circumstances. That's tragic."

Bakos said she is planning to file a civil rights case against the Village of Oak Park in the coming days.