The family of the man who was fatally shot by police in his bedroom last month in Illinois is demanding the identification and prosecution of the officers involved following the publication of excerpts from multiple body camera footage documenting the shooting.
Nobody ever told us anything. Samuel Goodlow’s older sister Kennetha Barnes told CNN on Saturday that they don’t know anything. Justice for us is the police… being charged,” Barnes stated. Goodlow, 30, passed away on February 3 following a gunshot wound to the chest, according to a video statement released Friday by Carol Stream Police Chief Donald Cummings.
Investigators from various county agencies and the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office comprise the Public Integrity Team of the DuPage Metropolitan Emergency Response and Investigative Team, which is currently looking into the shooting, according to a press statement issued last month by officials in Carol Stream.
The state’s attorney’s office will examine the findings of the inquiry, which is why the officers are currently on paid administrative leave. At the same time, Goodlow’s lawyer Steven Hart told CNN’s Omar Jimenez that his client’s family is “devastated” and has “so many questions that are unanswered.” The loss of a son and brother has left them “shocked, dismayed, and mourning,” Hart declared.
A 33-minute video including a collection of footage from the body cameras of six officers from the Carol Stream Police Department was published on Friday by the Village of Carol Stream. The five-minute statement by Chief Cummings explains what happened before the shooting, but he also says that the videos don’t show anything before the shooting.
Authorities blurred Goodlow’s and the policemen’ faces before releasing the tape, he added. Police were called to a domestic violence incident on February 3, according to Cummings, after Goodlow’s girlfriend reported that it had injured her. Cummings mentioned that she ran barefoot out of the apartment they shared, citing the “altercation” as the reason.
Upon evaluation, the paramedics gave her the all-clear to go home. The door was locked, but she gave the cops permission to walk inside, according to Cummings. As per the authorities, for the subsequent half an hour, those there tried to reach Goodlow via his cell phone, the flat door, and an outside window, but they were unsuccessful. A representative from the housing complex was able to get a key, according to Cummings.
Using a key, an on-scene supervisor opens the flat in one body camera footage. In a stacked formation, four policemen make two announcements as they enter. Near the end of their search of the one-bedroom apartment, one of the police asked, “Go through this door here?” to another. A “Yeah” comes back from the second cop.
Shots ring out almost instantly as one cop kicks in the door. One cop shouts, “Oh f**k!” Soon after that, the sound of a taser is heard, followed by another gunshot. Everything goes into a frenzy very suddenly. Pulling back from the bedroom door, a few officers are seen. Not one, but one cop screams out, “No! No!” End it immediately!
The policemen trying to flee the cramped apartment seem to slip and tumble. Near the end of the incident, the police started checking each other for injuries. No one from the police force was injured. A pair of policemen fired a single round, per the authorities. The chest of Goodlow was struck by one bullet. As far as the family is concerned, “it looks like vigilante law enforcement,” Hart, who is representing them, told CNN on Saturday.
“Before asking questions, shoot,” Hart admonished, “because what they expected was that the police would serve and protect Isaac, not break into his house at 4:15 or 4:30 in the morning without his permission, and certainly not sneak in behind a ballistic shield, sneak up on him as he lay in his apartment bed, and shoot him in the heart.”
According to a statement from the Carol Stream Police Department, the investigation is still underway. However, the department did not release any additional facts beyond what was mentioned in Cummings’ video statement on Friday.
“Lastly, since the Carol Stream Police Department has not been involved in the investigation, we are eager to have more information about what happened that morning,” the statement declared. In their refusal to comment, the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office referred to the “active and ongoing investigation” into the shooting.
The most trustworthy and up-to-date source of information about the state of California is The California Examiner.
All of our most recent posts are located right here:
- Israeli Gunfire Was the Leading Cause of Injury Among Relief Convoy Casualties!
- A Shooting in a Dental Office Near San Diego Left One Dead and Two Injured!