Aamer Madhani

USA TODAY

CHICAGO — Authorities released disturbing video footage Friday showing the moments before and after Chicago police fatally shot an unarmed 18-year-old car theft suspect in the back.

Shortly before the release of the footage captured by police cameras, the head of the city agency tasked with investigating police-involved shootings and accusations of major misconduct by Chicago Police officers described the footage of the encounter with the teen, Paul O'Neal, as “shocking and disturbing." The officers can be heard cursing at O'Neal as he lays lifeless on the ground, bleeding from his back.

“Please bear in mind that this video material, as shocking and disturbing as it is, is not the only evidence to be gathered and analyzed when conducting a fair and thorough assessment of the conduct of police officers in performing their duties,” Sharon Fairley, the chief administrator of Independent Police Review Authority said in a statement.

“To that end, IPRA is conducting a full and thorough investigation of the entire incident including the use of force, the pursuit, body camera usage and all other possible policy and procedural violations that occurred during the incident."

Policing the USA

Superintendent Eddie Johnson quickly relieved three officers of their police powers after the department’s preliminary investigation concluded the officers violated department policy during their encounter with O’Neal, who was unarmed and driving a stolen Jaguar at the time.

Police said they tried to stop O'Neal when they spotted him driving the stolen vehicle before the situation escalated. O’Neal allegedly sideswiped a Chicago police vehicle and another car parked nearby before he took off running from police. Two police officers shot at O’Neal while he was still in the vehicle and a third officer fired at the suspect, fatally wounding him, as he tried to flee the scene.

In the graphic videos, police can be seen shooting at the stolen car and giving chase to the suspect and firing several shots at him as he tries to run through a residential neighborhood on the city's South Side.

In one of the videos, one of the responding officer's says, "They shot at us too, right?"

Another officer, who fired his weapon at the suspect in the stolen car, replies: "He almost hit my partners, I (expletive) shot at him." The same officer can later be heard grousing that he's going to be put on desk duty for 30 days, as the department requires anytime an officer is involved in a shooting. He also asks another officer: "Who was shooting in the alley?"

In a second police body camera video, officers can be seen handcuffing O'Neal as he lies face down on the ground with blood saturating his shirt. One officer placed his boot atop O'Neal's leg as the teen was cuffed.

In a police dashcam video, one officer can be seen firing off several rounds at the stolen vehicle as it speeds down the residential street. Another dashcam video captures the moment the stolen vehicle hits the squad car.

The release of the video footage comes as the department is in the midst of a Justice Department civil rights investigation, launched last year following the court-ordered release of dashcam video that showed a white officer shoot a black teen 16 times on a city street. The officer in that incident, Jason Van Dyke, awaits trial on first-degree murder charges for the death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.

Following widespread outrage over the McDonald video, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel vowed quicker dissemination of videos of police-involved shootings and set guidelines for the release of all police shooting videos within 60 days of an incident.

The video released Friday did not include footage from the perspective of the officer who fatally shot O’Neal as he tried to run away from the scene, because the officer’s body camera did not capture it. Police said they are trying to determine why the body camera was not working at the time of the incident.

Michael Oppenheimer, an attorney for the family, charged that the officers had their own "street justice." Oppenheimer also expressed skepticism about why the one officer's body camera was not working.

"Once again, we have a bodycam of the actual shooting, which either didn't work, was turned off, was manipulated, or in some way covered up," Oppenheimer said. "It's unbelievable to think that this new technology..simply didn't work."

IPRA officials invited the family of O'Neal and several activists to view the videos on Friday morning before they were released to the public. O'Neal's sister, Briana Adams, and her mother left after watching just a few minutes of the footage that was made public. But Adams, who said her brother had graduated high school in June and was preparing to enroll at a trade school, said it was important that she watch the video.

"For the truth," said Adams, 22. "I don't want anyone to lie to me in my face and shun my brother's image."

William Calloway, a Chicago activist who was among those that viewed the video, told reporters he was overwhelmed by the images.

"I'm just tired of seeing us get killed," Calloway said.

Johnson said in a statement the department "will be guided by the facts and should wrongdoing be discovered; individuals will be held accountable for their actions."

"The shooting of Mr. O'Neal has raised a lot of questions about whether departmental policies were followed," Johnson added. "While IPRA conducts a thorough investigation, we will not wait to look for ways we can learn from this incident."

Chicago to release videos in police shooting of unarmed man

The relatively quick release of video from the Chicago incident comes after video of police-involved shooting incidents taken by witnesses in Minnesota and Louisiana last month set off days of protests around the country.

The killings of Philando Castille and Alton Sterling also led to retaliatory ambushes against police officers in which five officers in Dallas and three in Baton Rouge were killed.

“As with every investigation, where we believe information can be released to the public without jeopardizing the investigation, we do so, even if it is before the 60-day timeline outlined in the city’s transparency policy,” Fairley said. “We have made that determination here, so we are releasing this information that we understand is of utmost public interest.”

Follow USA TODAY Chicago correspondent Aamer Madhani on Twitter: @AamerISmad