96 Gunshots: Dexter Reed Police Shooting Video Spotlights Danger For Black Men During Traffic Stops

Source: Anadolu / Getty

A video of plainclothes Chicago police firing nearly 100 gunshots at a Black man during a traffic, stop which led to his death, was released on Tuesday, spotlighting the dangers Black men face when pulled over by police. 

According to ABC News, Dexter Reed was shot and killed by Chicago police last month, after they allegedly pulled him over for failing to wear a seatbelt.

But how did a seatbelt stop end in the death of the  26-year-old Black man?

*Trigger Warning – This video is disturbing. Please watch at your discretion*

Wild video shows Chicago police fired nearly 100 shots in less than a minute during fatal traffic stop.

Preliminary evidence showed the suspect, 26-year-old Dexter Reed, had fired first at one officer during the shootout on West Ferdinand Street. pic.twitter.com/CszxLHt2es

— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) April 10, 2024

According to the authorities, five officers in unmarked police vehicles surrounded Dexter Reed’s SUV with their weapons drawn and demanded he exit the vehicle.

Video shows Reed lowering his window, then raising it back up seemingly refusing to exit the SUV as police continue to yell and point their guns at the Black man.

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability, the organization created in 2016 after the shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, said evidence suggests Reed fired at officers first, allegedly injuring one. 

Four officers then returned fire, shooting 96 rounds at Reed in under a minute. COPA also admitted that officers continued to shoot even after “Reed exited his vehicle and fell to the ground.”

Footage of the aftermath shows Reed’s SUV riddled with bullet holes. Officers can also be heard trying to find Reed’s weapon after the shooting. 

“I don’t know where the gun is,” an officer says. They eventually allegedly found a weapon on the passenger seat.

“He started shooting at us,” another officer says. “All of us were shooting,” another officer says repeatedly.

The March 21 shooting has left Dexter Reed, devastated, confused, and looking for answers. Why was Reed pulled over in the first place? Did officers have to shoot at the Black man 96 times? These are the many questions the Reed family deserves answers to. 

“I really can’t explain the pain that me and my family is going through, but I just hope there are people out there who understand he was a son, he was a brother, he was an uncle, he had loved ones,” Reed’s sister, Porscha Banks, told reporters. “He was somebody very important.”

She had just been on the phone with her brother when she turned on a police scanner at her shop. She heard "shots fired" and gunshots on the scanner. Little did she know she had spoken to her brother for the last time and that she was really hearing his final moments. #DexterReed pic.twitter.com/8NjTglPdvP

— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenez) April 10, 2024

Andrew M. Stroth, an attorney for the family, called the traffic stop unconstitutional, citing that officers were in plainclothes and did not announce themselves as police. 

“Nothing is going to bring Dexter back, but certainly efforts should be taken to make sure this doesn’t happen to another family,” he said.

Officers involved were placed on 30 days of administrative leave and Mayor Brandon Johnson said a full investigation is underway.

“Attempts to withhold or delay information are mistakes of the past,” he said during a news conference. “As mayor and as a father, raising a family, including two Black boys on the West Side of Chicago, I’m personally devastated to see yet another young Black man lose his life during an interaction with police.”

Major Johnson also condemned shootings against police, showing remorse for the Black officer who was shot, saying if that officer wasn’t as lucky as he was then they would be here “talking about the death of another Black man.”

It’s never the right thing to shoot at police, but if officers don’t identify themselves during traffic stops how are you supposed to know who the good guys are?

Daunte Wright suffered the same tragic fate in 2021 when he was fatally shot and killed by Kim Potter during a routine traffic stop. 

Tyre Nichols also died three days after he was pulled over at a traffic stop for “reckless driving.”

In no way should a routine traffic stop be a death sentence. Shooting at police is most certainly a no-no but without the overly-aggressive traffic stop for a violent-less seatbelt infraction do we even get to the point where a Black man is killed by police?

SEE ALSO:

Warren Ex-Cop Who Attacked Black Man During Booking Pleads Guilty

Tennessee Bill Reversing Traffic Stop Reforms After Tyre Nichols’ Police Beating Death Signed Into Law

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