That admission appears to indicate that cop perceived crossfire shots from the other officers on scene had been fired by O'Neal, when in fact the teen did not have a weapon at all. In direct violation of departmental policy, officers fired at the vehicle they believed O'Neal had stolen — worse, that gunfire directly endangered not only the suspected car thief, but other officers and everyone in the neighborhood.
In an apparent attempt to atone for the months-long delay in the release of the video showing the shooting death of Laquan McDonald — for which an officer now stands accused of murder — investigators acted swiftly to provide video to the public. But videos of the O'Neal shooting have done little to alleviate public ire. The staggering lack of coordination in officers firing their weapons likely inadvertently led to O'Neal's death as cops believed gunfire was emanating from the suspect instead of each other.
In the series of nine videos, one officer accuses the suspect of firing at them, while another — who seemed to believe more than one suspect had been in the allegedly stolen vehicle — expressed doubt, saying:
"They shot at us too, right?" Another says the suspect "almost hit my partner. I fucking shot at him."
Comment: For comparison and contrast: