Family of police shooting victim asks for DOJ investigation

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A family is calling for the Justice Department to step in and investigate a deadly shooting involving a Chicago police officer.

Christian Green, 17, was killed on July 4, 2013. Family members say he was shot in the back as he ran from police.

In the aftermath of the Laquan McDonald video and investigation, Green's family says the findings of justifiable homicide have to be re-checked. The search for truth began with his grieving mother, Patricia Green.

"He was only 17 years old. I'll never hear from him again, I can never touch him again," she said.

The Independent Policy Review Authority concluded in September 2013 that the shooting was justified. Its report said the 17-year-old refused a police command to drop a gun and instead pointed it at officers.

Attorney Victor Henderson said video from a nearby liquor store shows the gun was dropped. Police initially reported Green suffered chest wounds, but the medical examiner subsequently found Green was shot in the back.

"The tape that we want released shows that he's trying to discard it, which is an indication to me that he's not trying to be caught with anything he shouldn't have. He's trying to run away and the public needs to see that," Henderson said. "We are in the midst of another cover-up regarding another tape, another teenager who was shot in the back and another set of police reports that were falsified."

Henderson says he's seen evidence in police and IPRA reports that IPRA coached officers to ensure consistency in their stories. He wants the mayor and the state's attorney to refer the case to the Justice Department.

"This is a test case, the first test since Laquan McDonald, so actions speak louder than words," Henderson said.

IPRA said in a statement: "Chief Administrator Sharon Fairley is currently evaluating and reviewing pending officer-involved shooting investigations... in addition to looking at previously closed cases."

Henderson also said that the officer who shot and killed Ronald Johnson in the summer of 2014 was on the scene when his partner shot Christian Green.

"The police have a hard job," Henderson said. "What we do not expect is that for people who are fleeing and trying to evade and avoid the police to be shot in the back."

"Every day my heart aches for my son, he was my baby," Patricia Green said.

Henderson says if reforming police culture is truly a political goal, then a special prosecutor should be appointed in this case, and any police-involved shooting where the victim is a minor and/or is shot in the back.