Man shot and killed by Chicago police was hit in the back, autopsy shows
A man fatally shot by Chicago police died from a single gunshot wound to the back, according to the medical examiner.
An autopsy by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office confirmed that the bullet that killed Maurice Granton Jr., 24, traveled through his torso back to front, right to left and in an upward angle, the report said.
The death was ruled a homicide, according to an autopsy report released on Tuesday.
Video of the police pursuit was released in July.
It shows a Chicago police officer fatally shooting Granton as he tried to scale a fence June 7 while running from police on Chicago’s South Side.
Granton falls to the ground and then a few seconds later he stops moving altogether.
The video does not contain audio from the time of the actual shooting, but when the audio does come on the officer can be heard telling Granton to stay down.
Granton's family has filed a lawsuit alleging that he cannot be seen carrying a gun or other weapon in the police body camera footage released by authorities.
“He only had a cell phone and sunglasses on him. At no point can you see a gun,” said Bryce Hensley, who represents LaTayshia Shaw, the mother of Granton’s two young children.
At the time of Granton’s fatal shooting, police said he ignored orders to stop during a foot chase, pulled a weapon and fired at the officer before he was shot.
A report filed by Sheldon Thrasher, the officer who fatally shot Granton — released by the Chicago Office of Police Oversight — said he reported to supervisors that Granton was armed with a semi-automatic pistol and had fired at him.
The department also tweeted out a photo of a 9 mm handgun it said was recovered from the shooting scene.
The family told ABC station WLS in Chicago that the weapon in the photo is not his gun.
The lawsuit, filed last week in Cook County Circuit Court, names the city and Thrasher as defendants.
The bodycam worn by another officer, who did not fire at Granton, captured the beginning of the pursuit.
Both Thrasher and the second officer have returned to active duty after taking a mandatory 30-day leave following the incident.
The shooting remains under investigation.
