Carol Stream police release bodycam video of shooting that killed Isaac Goodlow
CAROL STREAM, Ill. (WLS) -- Carol Stream police released bodycam video on Friday of the shooting that killed Isaac Goodlow at his apartment.
The police chief said Goodlow's girlfriend called them to the apartment in the 200 block of East St. Charles Road on Feb. 3 for an alleged domestic violence incident.
Chief Donald Cummings said Goodlow's girlfriend had injuries she claimed were a result of an altercation with Goodlow. He said the girlfriend told officers she shared the apartment with Goodlow, and gave police permission to enter.
Cummings said after trying to contact Goodlow for 45 minutes, they obtained a key and six officers entered the apartment. Within seconds, he was shot by police in what appears to be a bedroom.
While police released partial and edited body camera video, including blurring individuals to prevent their identification, some of it is difficult to watch.
RELATED: Family of man killed in Carol Stream police shooting demand bodycam video be made public
In the video, you can see officers enter Goodlow's apartment with a key, announcing their presence and attempting to find him. Parts of the video were blurredby police.
The police officer leading the group, with ballistic shield up and service weapon drawn, kicks open the door to Goodlow's room. A split second later you hear a shot fired, then a second shot about two seconds later. Just 18 seconds after officers entered the apartment, Goodlow was lying bleeding and shot on the floor of a bedroom.
In the edited video, you can see officers then work to place handcuffs on Goodlow as he twitches on the ground face down, then turn him and begin administering CPR.
Carol Stream police said paramedics were called 12 seconds after the first shot was fired, and entered the apartment four minutes and 44 seconds later to take over life-saving measures.
The officer who kicked open the door, seen in some of the body camera video with his hands over his head in the corner of the room, answers in a distressed voice that the gunshot was not self-inflicted.
"They shot my baby in cold blood," said Bonnie Pigram, Goodlow's mother. "And he didn't deserve that. No one deserves to die like that."
"Why did you guys go in with the shields and ready to kill. They came in ready to kill and we want to know what led up to that," said his sister Kennetha Barnes. "He didn't say anything to them. They shot immediately, as soon as they opened the door. Why? We want to know why."
Carol Stream police said a total of two shots were fired; that Goodlow was shot once and tased.
It's very difficult to understand, from the video, exactly which officer fired those shots and which tased Goodlow.
"Something sparked an officer to fire a shot," said ABC7 Police Affairs Consultant Bill Kushner, who is also a former police officer. "And I believe the second shot was a reflex action to the first shot being fired."
Kushner said the best bodycam view of what happened is blocked by the first officer's shield.
"You don't get a true picture of what happened because the shield is blocking exactly what happened," he said. "I don't believe for a minute that the officers intended to go in there and execute this young man, but something happened; if it was an accidental discharge, if it was a when they opened the door to the bedroom, if the doorknob hit the wall and made a noise and there was a sympathetic reflex where he pulled the trigger."
Kushner said it's not clear why police mounted this kind of manpower to arrest someone who appeared to be no threat. No official has stated that Goodlow was armed.
Goodlow's family filed a civil rights lawsuit against Carol Stream police Wednesday.
The suit is against the village of Carol Stream and six unnamed police officers, and claims Goodlow's constitutional rights were violated. In it, the family claims he was asleep at the time of the shooting and "never stood a chance."
"Why won't they show the videos that was initially showed to the family?" Barnes wondered. "We've seen him laying down sleeping. That's what they show the first time. What they show now is to confuse the public."
Police said the video released Friday "represents all of the body worn camera recordings" that captured the incident. They said they will release the rest of the video, which includes "events that occurred before and after the shooting" at a later date after the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office completes its review.
The Carol Stream Police Department released a statement, saying, in part, "The Carol Stream Police Department is devoted to respecting human life and will continue to listen to the concerns of our community during this trying time. As the family and loved ones of Mr. Goodlow navigate the tremendous grief that comes from the loss of a loved one, we offer them our most sincere condolences on their loss."
The DuPage County State's Attorney's Office and public integrity team have taken over the investigation. So far investigators have yet to release any details of what led to Isaac Goodlow's death.
The Carol Stream Police Department said it has not yet seen the lawsuit, and will review it when they do.
They said they hope to release the entire body camera footage from the officers involved in the incident in the very near future.
S
