New video shows Des Plaines police shooting inside Chicago music store that injured teen employee
Des Plaines officer shot 15-year-old employee in arm, abdomen after chasing bank robbery suspect
CHICAGO (WLS) -- New surveillance video shows the moment a Des Plaines police officer opened fire inside a Chicago music store while chasing a bank robbery suspect, injuring a teen employee.
The shooting happened in November 2019 and began in northwest suburban Des Plaines, where a bank was robbed. Des Plaines police took one person into custody at the scene, while a second suspect stole a car and led Des Plaines police and FBI agents on a chase into Chicago.
Chicago police were waiting when he exited the expressway at Irving Park Road.
In the newly released video, you can see the officer chasing after alleged robber Christopher Willis as he runs inside of Upbeat Music on Irving Park Road. The Des Plaines cop follows and then fired at least 10 gunshots.
A bullet struck Rylan Wilder, who you can see in the video trying to get out of the way. The bullet went through the then-15-year-old music shop employee's arm and into his abdomen.
"The bullet that went through his arm blew away muscle and arteries and veins, so he has had a lot of surgeries," said Timothy Cavanagh, the attorney representing the Wilder family in a lawsuit against the Des Plaines Police Department.
Another surveillance video shows Wilder running into the next room to escape the gunfire as students and a teacher take cover.
The Wilder family is suing both the department and the Des Plaines police officer who shot him, questioning why the officer was armed with an AR-15 rifle.
RELATED: Family of teen wounded in shootout with Des Plaines bank robbery suspect files lawsuit
"This was his own weapon, which raises questions of why is the Des Plaines police officer not in his jurisdiction using an AR-15?" Cavanalgh said. "Why is he using a weapon of war outside his jurisdiction?"
The Des Plaines police chief responded to the claims, saying that an investigation by a third-party investigator found that the officer was in compliance with all department policies and acted reasonably under the circumstances.
According to the Des Plaines police pursuit policy, which was obtained by Cavanagh Law, the officer should not have pursued the suspect.
"Des Plaines had a policy that they were not supposed to go into a jurisdiction if there were two or more cops from the jurisdiction they were in," Cavanagh explained. "We know that there were about 20 squads outside of Upbeat that night, so unless they got approval from a supervisor, Des Plaines was not supposed to be there.
Investigators said the suspect also shot a Chicago police officer in the head that night. The Des Plaines police chief backed his officer's actions, saying they were necessary, proper and likely saved lives.
Wilder was a star musician, but the shooting and more than a dozen surgeries took that away.
"He does not have the use of his arm like he did before. He was an award-winning musician and he is not able to play the guitar like he could before," said Cavanagh.
