Police say that the shooting happened as they interrupted a drug deal that was taking place in the neighborhood. The subsequent investigation forced them to close a five-block stretch of the area, even as a large crowd gathered to protest the shooting.
It was shortly before 9 Saturday morning, when police say two officers observed a hand-to-hand drug exchange taking place on the 6200 block of South Eberhardt.
It was, they say, during the subsequent foot chase, they noticed 20-year-old Raason Shaw clutching an object in his waistband. They chased him through gangways all the way to 67th and Rhodes and that is when they say he pulled a gun on them.
"As he jumps the fence he has a 40-caliber glock with an extended clip in his hand," said Pat Camden, Fraternal Order of Police. "He goes over the fence. Sees the officer coming at him, raises the weapon towards the officer, the officer fires."
Shaw was dead on the scene. And police say a glock semi-automatic handgun with a laser sight and extended high capacity magazine was recovered, but family and friends who witnessed the shooting, insist that's not true.
"The police pulled a gun like he was going to shoot him too, telling him to back up," said Veronique Jones, the victim's cousin. "He was just laying there. He didn't have no weapon or nothing. He was just trying to hop a gate."
"He never posed a threat or anything," said friend Jay White. "He had a warrant of his arrest that he knew of...so maybe that's why he took off running."
The incident drew a large crowd of people into the streets, a lot of them angry at what they viewed as an unprovoked shooting, openly confronted police. At least three people were led away in handcuffs.
"I got a call from my daughter. She was screaming and hollering. My son was going up to his cousin's house and the next thing I know he's running through the alley and the police shot him," said Sharon Shaw, the victim's mother.
Among those who were drawn out by the shooting was Shaw's boss. She says the 20-year-old had a criminal history, but now worked for her, cleaning out foreclosed homes.
"He was a kid," said Shamika Jordan. "He had a troubled past, but he was trying to get his life together. He had started working. Comes to work every day on time. I had no complaints about him."
Shaw was wanted on a warrant for missing a court appearance for a misdemeanor criminal trespass charge. As with all police-involved shootings, it is now the Independent Police Review Authority that is in charge of the investigation.
