US cop fired after killing unarmed teen and wounding his girlfriend
WAUKEGAN, ILLINOIS: A US police officer was sacked after he shot and killed an unarmed black teenager during a traffic stop earlier this week.
The unidentified officer was terminated from his job on Friday night for multiple policy and procedure violations, the Waukegan Police Department said in a statement, three days after the incident left 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette dead and his girlfriend Tafarra Williams wounded. Protests and marches against racism and police brutality have swept across the US during the last six months following the May 25 killing of African-American George Floyd, who died in police custody in Minneapolis.
Waukegan is 25km south of Kenosha, Wisconsin, where sometimes protests erupted after a white police officer shot Mr Jacob Blake, a black man, in the back several times on Aug 23.
According to Waukegan police, a Hispanic officer was conducting a traffic stop on Tuesday night when he shot into the couple's car because it went into reverse and he feared for his safety. No firearm was found in the vehicle, the police said.
Mr Stinnette, who was the passenger, died, while Miss Williams was wounded in the abdomen and wrist, according to a relative of Mr Stinnette.
Miss Williams remains in the hospital, the Waukegan Police Department said.
"We do not trust the police narrative in this case. We have seen over and over that the 'official' report when police kill black people is far too often missing or misrepresenting details," Miss Williams' attorney, Ben Crump, said in a statement.
The US Department of Justice has agreed to assist the Illinois State Police in its investigation. - REUTERS
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