Nearly four weeks after Malik Wrightsell was shot by Chicago police, his attorney is challenging the central claim in the case: that he opened fire on officers during a South Shore struggle. Cierra Norris says the official account is “absolutely not true” and insists a bullet that wounded one officer did not come from her client.
The July 3 encounter began when officers in an unmarked vehicle stopped Wrightsell near the 2000 block of East 79th Street over a non-street-legal vehicle, according to COPA. The agency said Wrightsell fled, officers caught up with him in an alley, and a struggle followed before one officer was struck in a ballistic vest and Wrightsell was shot multiple times. COPA also confirmed that body-camera footage captured the initial stop and the shooting, but the agency has not released it.
Prosecutors have alleged that Wrightsell pulled a gun from a bag and fired once at two officers, striking one in the vest before that officer returned fire, as NBC Chicago reported. The second officer was wounded in the arm, but officials did not initially say who fired the bullet that caused that injury. A firearm was recovered at the scene, according to authorities.
Lawyer Demands Body-Camera Footage Before Trial
At a Thursday news conference outside Chicago police headquarters, Norris said the shooting happened after what she called “an illegal foot chase” and that “a firearm went off,” according to the Chicago Sun-Times. She declined to say whether Wrightsell had a firearm, but said her investigation would show that the official version was wrong. Norris also said Wrightsell had been taking a go-cart or motorbike to his son’s sixth birthday party when police stopped him.
Wrightsell faces charges including attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery to a peace officer, aggravated assault of a peace officer, resisting or obstructing a peace officer and two weapons offenses. He was ordered detained pending trial, and the charges remain allegations unless proven in court. His family is asking for the complete body-camera recording, saying it could show what happened during the struggle and shooting.
COPA says the video and related materials are scheduled for release within 60 days of the July 3 incident unless a court order prevents it, according to the agency’s public statement. Until that footage is released, the prosecution’s gunfight account and the defense’s claim of a chaotic struggle remain sharply opposed versions of the same South Side encounter.
