Death by Cop 2021-2025
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Dexter Reed
Gender : Male
Age : 24
Race : Black
Date : 03/21/2024
Location : 3800-block of West Ferdinand Street
City : Chicago Garfield Park
County : Cook
State : Illinois
Agency : Chicago Police Department
Officer(s) :Thomas Spanos, Alexandra Giampapa, Victor Pacheco, Gregory Saint Louis and Aubrey Webb
Cause of Death : Gunshot
Event : Killed by police during traffic stop
OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :
On March 21, 2024, 26-year-old Dexter Reed was fatally shot by Chicago Police Department (CPD) officers during a traffic stop in the Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago. The incident began when plainclothes officers sideswiped his vehicle, then initiated a traffic stop, initially citing Reed for not wearing a seat belt; this was later revised to a violation for illegally tinted windows. Family calls it a pretextual traffic stop. Reed fired his weapon, injuring an officer. It is not clear if and when he realized that the people in civilian clothing who hit his car and forced him to stop were officers. The incident escalated quickly and four CPD officers fired a total of 96 rounds within 41 seconds, striking Reed 13 times, killing him.
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Following the killing, the four shooters, Thomas Spanos, Victor Pacheco, Gregory Saint Louis and Aubrey Webb, were placed on administrative leave. As of September 2024, all four officers remained on leave with pay, pending the outcome of an investigation by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA). COPA recommended that these officers be relieved of their police powers due to concerns about their use of deadly force and the validity of the traffic stop. However, CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling declined to suspend their police powers during the investigation.
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One of the officers involved in the shooting, identified as Alexandra Giampapa, resigned from the CPD in December 2024. Shortly thereafter, she secured a position with the Westerville Division of Police in Ohio. This development has raised concerns among Reed's family and police reform advocates, who fear that Giampapa may be evading accountability for her role in the incident.
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Legal Actions and Settlements
In April 2024, Dexter Reed's family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of Chicago and the involved officers, alleging that Reed's civil rights were violated during the traffic stop and subsequent shooting. By December 2024, the city reached an undisclosed settlement with Reed's mother. Some city officials expressed Despite a proposed $1.25 million settlement, the Chicago City Council rejected it, and the Civilian Office of Police Accountability continues its administrative investigation.
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The shooting has sparked significant public outcry and demands for changes in CPD's traffic stop policies, particularly regarding stops for minor infractions such as equipment violations. COPA's investigation is ongoing, focusing on the officers' use of force and the legitimacy of the initial traffic stop. The findings of this investigation are pending and will play a crucial role in determining any further actions or policy reforms within the CPD. On August 13, 2025, prosecutors announced that they will not charge the officers.
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PRIOR INCIDENTS INVOLVING THE SHOOTER OFFICERS:Thomas Spanos sustained a COPA finding for conducting an unjustified search and failing to complete the required Investigatory Stop Report during a 2023 traffic stop, and in a separate 2023 complaint regarding excessive force during a domestic dispute, COPA exonerated him. Alexandra Giampapa, Victor Pacheco, Gregory Saint Louis, and Aubrey Webb, along with Spanos, were accused in a 2024 traffic stop complaint of conducting an unjustified stop, performing searches without cause, failing to provide proper documentation, and using unprofessional language, with COPA issuing a mix of sustained and not sustained findings. Investigative bodies found that the tactical unit violated multiple departmental rules during two separate traffic stops shortly before the Reed incident, resulting in recommended suspensions.
SOURCE LINKS :
https://abc7chicago.com/chicago-police-shooting-officer-shot-garfield-park-shootout-west-ferdinand-street/14557346/
https://wgntv.com/news/chicagocrime/cpd-make-your-own-decisions-about-footage-of-deadly-officer-involved-shooting-to-be-released-tuesday/
https://abc7chicago.com/post/dexter-reed-shooting-city-says-man-killed-chicago-police-was-stopped-tinted-windows-contradicting-earlier-claim/15124106/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc7kV67pPSw
https://thetriibe.com/2025/01/organizers-family-worry-chicago-cop-who-shot-dexter-reed-is-escaping-accountability-with-new-job-in-ohio/
https://apnews.com/article/police-shooting-chicago-deadly-traffic-cd3ebeb91f49ac27f329cc8acfb7dc41
https://news.wttw.com/2025/05/05/top-cop-agrees-cpd-officers-who-stopped-shot-dexter-reed-should-be-suspended-violating
https://www.chicagocopa.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/2023-0004000_FSR.pdf
https://www.chicagocopa.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/2023-0000477_FSR.pdf
https://www.chicagocopa.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/2024-0002779_FSR.pdf
BWC:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8t5x6XK15c
