Leevon Smith: Video shows off-duty female cop shooting robber dead after he tried to take her gun
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: An off-duty female police officer shot dead Leevon Smith who tried to grab her and take her gun after she repeatedly threatened to kill him. The family of 39-year-old Smith, who was killed in the incident, found it difficult to digest the information and they have now sued the officer and the city for $10 million.
The involved female police officer has been working for the city's police department since June 2022, according to Chicago Sun-Times. On January 17, Smith and the female cop engaged in a violent altercation in Chicago. This altercation started shortly after the officer attempted to break up a fight that had broken out between Smith and three other individuals in front of an apartment building on the city's notoriously violent South Side. On video taken at the site, the officer and Smith can be seen talking for a while after the others have left. Nevertheless, when the officer turns around and Smith reaches for a gun, everything goes horribly wrong.
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'You tried to steal my f**king gun'
The police officer is seen trying to protect her gun as the two engage in a physical altercation and wrestle on the ground. Immediately following the officer's repeated warning and her utterance of the phrase "I'll kill you," two gunshots can be heard. Smith can be heard exclaiming, "You got me, you got me," after hearing two shots.
"I told your dumb a**, I'd kill you," the officer yelled at Smith as she cried for nearby neighbors to dial 911 and firing her third and final shot. Smith was heard stating, "Damn, baby, I'm sorry. I don't wanna die," to which the officer replied, "You thought I was playing, I told you I'd shoot you. I told your dumb a** I'd shoot you. You tried to steal my f**king gun."
The officer added, "Didn't I just say I'd kill you? Didn't I just to say I'd kill you? I told your dumb a** I'd shoot you," and she said to the neighbors, "I don't give no f**k about him. He just tried to rob."
Who dialed 911?
Finally, the policewoman dialed 911 on her own and told the operator, "Oh my God, he just tried to rob me. He just tried to steal me off-duty gun." She introduces herself as a police officer and claims that she had been trying to reach her supervisors but that her calls had gone unanswered.
Before an ambulance, another officer arrives on the scene and questions the female officer who shot Smith, "Where'd you hit him? I don't know," and added, "F**k it. I can't believe this happened to me." The officer was placed on administrative leave for 30 days as a result of the incident. She also had treatment for a wound over her right eye.
The arrest record stated that there was a "verbal argument" prior to the shooting, and Smith is charged with "attempting to disarm her," according to Daily Mail. The police officer shot Smith three times in the abdomen after her repeated warnings. Three days later from the day of the incident, Smith succumbed to his wounds and was pronounced dead at Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Illinois.
Will the female police officer face any legal charges?
The tactical report on the incident stated that the female officer was put in "imminent danger" when Smith attempted to steal her gun, according to Daily Mail. She has not been accused of committing a crime and will not be facing any legal charges.
A neighbour who saw the shooting said, "The tussle that they had, almost had me in tears because she's a tiny little person. I'm glad that she was able to keep herself together and do what she needed to do to come out alive," accordin to Fox 32.
Why did the family of Leevon Smith file a lawsuit?
Smith's family is suing the officer and the city for $10 million, claiming that Smith's estate has been "diminished" because of funeral expenses. The lawsuit claims that his family "suffered injuries as a result of his death, including, but not limited to, the loss of companionship and society, grief, sorrow and mental anguish," according to Daily Mail.
The lawsuit also claims that the officer used "excessive and violent physical force" and that she "should have known that such force was not necessary in light of the circumstances." Before Smith's death, he was charged with aggravated assault and attempted robbery.