Video footage of the Chicago police shooting that resulted in the death of Paul O'Neal was released Friday morning.
Police fatally shot the 18-year-old July 28 in the South Shore neighborhood. He died from a gunshot wound to the back.
The Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) released the video at about 11 a.m., just eight days after the incident occurred.
The shooting happened as police attempted to pull over a Jaguar that had been reported stolen in Bolingbrook. Officials in the southwest suburb said O'Neal and three other suspects were captured on surveillance video in connection with a series of car thefts.
Chicago officers fired their weapons at the Jaguar after it hit two police vehicles. O'Neal was stuck in the back by a bullet as he was fleeing from the vehicle.
The footage does not capture the actual shooting, but it does show officers firing at the fleeing car before O'Neal exits the vehicle and starts running. It also shows O'Neal bleeding on the ground as police handcuffed him.
"It is one of the most horrific things I have seen," the family's lawyer Michael Oppenheimer told reporters.
"What I saw was a cold-blooded murder," he added.
O'Neal's family members were so distressed after watching the footage that they could not make a statement.
Chicago police said the body camera worn by the officer who fatally shot O'Neal did not record the actual shooting.
"They decided they would control this, so the cover-up has begun," Oppenheimer said.
Three Chicago cops involved in the incident have been stripped of their policing powers and assigned to administrative duties pending investigations into the incident.
IPRA's Sharon Fairley issued a statement this morning:
Today IPRA is releasing video material related to the officer-involved shooting at 74th and Merrill on July 28th that resulted in the death of Mr. O'Neal. The investigation into this tragic event is still very much in the early stages. But we are proceeding as deliberately and expediently as possible in pursuit of a swift but fair determination.
As with every investigation, where we believe information can be released to the public without jeopardizing the investigation, we do so, even if it is before the 60-day timeline outlined in the City's transparency policy. We have made that determination here, so we are releasing this information that we understand is of utmost public interest.
Please bear in mind that this video material, as shocking and disturbing as it is, is not the only evidence to be gathered and analyzed when conducting a fair and thorough assessment of the conduct of police officers in performing their duties. To that end, IPRA is conducting a full and thorough investigation of the entire incident including the use of force, the pursuit, body camera usage and all other possible policy and procedural violations that occurred during the incident. As the investigation continues we will release more evidence on our case portal once we've had an opportunity to determine whether or not the release of evidence will impede the investigation that I believe will take several weeks to conclude.
Police accountability activists plan to protest Sunday evening in response to the fatal shooting of O'Neal.
Black teen girls in Chicago are organizing a march that will begin at 5 p.m. Sunday at Wrigley Square in Millennium Park.
"Knowing that it's only been four weeks since many youth gathered, for the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, and someone else's death has become a hashtag is mentally draining," one of the protest organizers Maxine Wint, 16, said in a statement.
"Knowing that if my little brother ever felt scared enough to run from the police, that he could possibly get shot, makes me scared for our future. We need to keep saying their names until we see change, we have to make their names visible, we cannot stay silent to the injustice that is happening in our country."