Reacting to protests for justice Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham called for calm on Sunday – video will be released in police shooting of unarmed Black motorists last week

U.S. Department of Justice Cunningham said has agreed to assist Illinois state investigation into a police shooting that killed an Marcellis Stinnette, and wounded his girlfriend Tafara Williams on Oct 20

Stinnette, 19, died in last Tuesday’s shooting by police in Waukegan, 40 miles north of Chicago Stinnette’s girlfriend, Tafara Williams, 20, was wounded in the shooting and remains hospitalized

Authorities in Waukegan said Williams was driving and Stinnette was a passenger in a vehicle that fled a traffic stop

Williams’s mother Clifftina Johnson has said her daughter told her that she and her boyfriend Stinnette, had done nothing to provoke the officer

The cops claim as an officer approached, the vehicle started moving in reverse and a officer, fearing for his safety, opened fire

No weapon was found in the vehicle

The unnamed officer who fired the shots was fired on Friday by Waukegan Police Chief Wayne Walles

The Dept. said the male Hispanic officer who has not been named, a five-year veteran, had committed “multiple policy and procedure violations”

Police video of a suburban Chicago police officer’s fatal shooting of a Black man and the wounding of a Black woman as the couple were inside a vehicle is expected to be released once relatives view that video, the mayor of the city where the shooting occurred said.
The fatal shooting by a Waukegan police officer happened on October 20 when a Hispanic male officer shot into a vehicle occupied by a young black couple.
The police statement alleges that the vehicle went into reverse when the officer approached it. He then fired into the vehicle because ‘he feared for his safety’.
According to police the two officers, one White the other Hispanic, were responding to a call of a suspicious car seen in the area.
The couple were unarmed and no firearm was found in the vehicle, police confirmed.

The shooting, which left 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette dead, leaving his girlfriend Tafara Williams, 20, hospitalized with injuries, triggered protests in the city of Waukegan.
The report filed by the Waukegan police alleges that Williams was driving and Stinnette was a passenger in a vehicle that fled a traffic stop conducted by a white officer late Tuesday and that the vehicle was later spotted by another officer, who is Hispanic.
Police said that as the second officer approached, the vehicle started moving in reverse and the officer, fearing for his safety, opened fire.
No weapon was found in the vehicle.

Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham said during a Sunday prayer vigil for Stinnette that the city intends to publicly release the bodycam and dashcam video recordings, but only after Stinnette’s family views them first.
“Let’s be clear, this situation requires their approval before we move on,” Cunningham said.
Mayor Cunningham also urged the public to let justice take its due course in the case, which on Friday led to the firing of the officer who shot the couple. Cunningham called for the community to “respect the process” in the city 40 miles, about an hour’s drive north of Chicago.

Stinnette had been in a bad car accident in August in which he broke his leg and wrist, requiring him to use a walker which he had with him in the vehicle, according to a family spokesperson Satrese Stallworth.
His girlfriend Williams was driving and suffered gunshot wounds to the abdomen and wrist and remains hospitalized.
Activists and relatives of Stinnette and Tafara Williams who, have demanded the release of the police video, which authorities say has been turned over to investigators.
On Saturday, Tafara Williams spoke from her hospital bed to a crowd at a rally in Waukegan, saying she “won’t sleep until Marcellis gets justice.”
Activist Chris Blanks said last week that the video is particularly important because the police version of events and the version Williams’ mother has shared appear to contradict each other.
Her mother, Clifftina Johnson, said her daughter told her that she and her boyfriend had done nothing to provoke the officer.
Johnson, said she visited her daughter in the hospital, where she is in serious condition. “When I got there, she said, ‘Mama, they just shot us for nothing'” Clifftina Johnson told reporters on Wednesday.
“My daughter said she put her hand up, and if she didn’t put her hand up, she said, ‘Mama, I would be dead.'”

The report filed by the Waukegan police alleges that Williams was driving and Stinnette was a passenger in a vehicle that fled a traffic stop conducted by a white officer late Tuesday and that the vehicle was later spotted by another officer, who is Hispanic.
Police said that as the second officer approached, the vehicle started moving in reverse and the officer, fearing for his safety, opened fire.
No weapon was found in the vehicle.
The officer who shot the couple was fired late Friday by Waukegan Police Chief Wayne Walles.
A brief statement from the Dept. said the male Hispanic officer, a five-year department veteran, had committed “multiple policy and procedure violations.”

Chief Walles offered his condolences to Stinnette and Williams’ families during Sunday’s vigil, which attracted a large crowd, the (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald reported.
“There is power in prayer, and the more of us that are together and praying, and praying for each other and everybody involved in this terrible incident, will help us heal and move forward,” he said.
Williams’ sister, Sasha Williams, said at Sunday’s vigil that her sister is working to recover her strength so she can return to caring for her children.
“We shouldn’t have to say, ‘Don’t shoot us,’” Williams said. “We shouldn’t have to come outside and fear for our lives. We shouldn’t be afraid of the police.”
Meanwhile the U.S. Department of Justice reportedly has agreed to assist Illinois state investigation into the shooting.

More than a hundred people marched in Waukegan on Thursday and some 200 to 300 were expected for a second demonstration on Saturday, according to Clyde McLemore, a local organizer.