EDITOR’S NOTE: The footage in the video player above is graphic and may disturbing for some viewers.
Carol Stream police released bodycamera footage Friday showing the fatal shooting of a 30-year-old man during what was described as a “tense and uncertain” domestic violence call, though family members have said Isaac Goodlow III was ambushed in the moments before his death.
The footage offers the first insights into what happened the day Goodlow was killed, but does not show what the officer who opened fire at the scene saw in the seconds before the shooting.
“The video footage that is being released today represents all of the body worn camera recordings that captured the complete interaction between Mr. Goodlow and Carol Stream police officers that day,” the department said in a statement. “The totality of the video, including the events that occurred before and after the shooting, will be released at a later date pursuant to the completion of the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office review. Once the investigation is completed by the Public Integrity Team, the State’s Attorney’s Office will conduct a comprehensive evaluation of all forensic evidence, witness accounts, and officer statements to make a determination regarding the actions of those involved.”
The video was blurred and edited by Carol Stream police, and NBC Chicago has not seen an unedited version.
In the footage released, officers enter the home using a key and announce themselves as “police” and “Carol Stream police” before opening the door to a bedroom, where Goodlow was inside.
Almost immediately after the door opens, a gunshot can be heard before a second shot is fired and a Taser deployed.
One officer is heard telling others to “stop.”
The bodycamera footage shows the perspective of numerous officers at the scene, but the officer who first entered the room where Goodlow was shot is carrying a shield, which obstructs the view of what he saw as the door opened.
Other officers ask the initial officer if he was struck, to which he replies “something got me.”
“I think that was a Taser prong,” another officer states.
Officers are seen cuffing Goodlow before providing CPR as they wait for medics to arrive.
According to Donald Cummings, the chief of the Carol Stream Police Department, officers were originally contacted on Feb. 3 by an alleged domestic violence victim outside of the suburban apartment building. The woman told officers she was in a physical altercation with Goodlow and ran barefoot from the apartment the pair shared to call for help.
“The alleged victim had injuries that she claimed were the result of the physical altercation that just took place between she and Mr. Goodlow,” Cummings said in a video statement released along with the bodycamera footage. “Paramedics responded to treat her injuries and she was released to remain at the scene. The alleged victim informed officers that she was unable to regain entry to her apartment because she had left without her keys, phone, dog and other basic belongings.”
About 45 minutes from her original call, police knocked on the apartment’s front door and exterior window with no response, the department said, noting that they also tried to call Goodlow’s cell phone.
Ultimately, police said they received a key from management of the complex and six officers entered the apartment unit.
In total, two officers fired single gunshots and one deplyed a Taser. Goodlow was shot in the chest and he was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, police said.
Police had perviously described what led up to shooting and killing Goodlow as a “tense, uncertain and rapidly evolving situation.”
Goodlow’s family watched parts of the police body camera footage last month with their attorneys. It prompted them to file a federal civil lawsuit against the Village of Carol Stream, and the Carol Stream officers involved.
The officers have not been named publicly, but remain on administrative leave.
“This is wrong. This is wrong,” Goodlow’s uncle Henry Pigram said during a news conference Wednesday. “From what I’ve seen, he got ambushed. He didn’t even know. He didn’t even see it coming.”
The 23-page lawsuit alleges the raid into Goodlow’s home was unlawful, and the shooting that ensued was unjust.
“Steven and I and the family painfully watched these officers break into Isaac’s bedroom and shoot him unarmed in the sanctity of his own home,” said attorney Andrew M Stroth of Action Injury Law Group. “They want to make sure this doesn’t happen to another family. Another Black family in America.”
They argue there was no reason for officers to enter Goodlow’s home without a warrant and called the use of force “excessive.”
“If that wasn’t bad enough, while he lay on the floor bleeding they Tased him,” said attorney Steven A. Hart. “If that wasn’t enough excessive force they put his hands behind his back and cuffed him.”
Village officials did not respond to NBC Chicago’s request for comment.
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