Dexter Reed was shot 13 times in deadly gunfight with Chicago police, autopsy shows

CHICAGO - Dexter Reed was shot at least 13 times when he was killed in a gun battle with Chicago police during a traffic stop last month in Humboldt Park, according to a newly released autopsy report.

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability, the oversight agency investigating the shooting, has reported that four officers fired nearly 100 rounds at Reed after he shot another officer in the wrist on March 21 in the 3800 block of West Ferdinand Street.

Reed was struck four times in his buttocks and twice in his chest, right thigh and right leg, according to an autopsy report released Thursday by the Cook County medical examiner’s office through an open records request. He was also hit in his back, left shoulder and left knee.

Reed’s death has been ruled a homicide, according to the medical examiner’s office, which noted that a toxicology screen revealed Reed’s system contained Delta-9 THC, the key psychoactive component that’s found in marijuana.

Reed’s killing has prompted protests and a federal lawsuit his family filed on Wednesday, alleging among other things that the officers involved in the shooting used excessive force and violated Reed’s civil rights.

Earlier this month, COPA released video footage of the shooting and reported that Reed initially fired at one of the officers who approached his GMC Terrain after he was stopped for a purported seat belt violation and failed to comply with orders to roll down his windows and open his door.

After that officer was wounded, four other officers fired 96 rounds in just 41 seconds, according to COPA. The shooting continued after Reed exited his SUV and fell to the pavement.