Video Shows Moment CPD Officer Shoots Partner in Face During Foot Chase: Murder or Accident?

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Video of a CPD foot chase gone horribly wrong has just been unsealed and released. The tragic video has left the victim’s family and the public with more questions than answers.

What Happened

On June 5th, Chicago police officers Carlos Baker, 34, and Krystal Rivera, 36, attempted to do an “investigatory stop” on a man they thought was armed. As they got out of their car to approach the man on 82nd and Drexel, he took off on foot.

The man ran into a nearby apartment building. Baker’s bodycam footage shows Baker and Rivera make entry, chasing behind the suspect. Rivera is behind Baker, as he kicks a door in behind the suspect.

On the other side, two men pictured in the bodycam footage. One is the suspect, and he appears to be jumping behind a couch. The other is seen to the left holding something which the officer later claimed to be a rifle. Instead of shooting or telling the man to drop the gun, the officer does something no properly trained cop would ever do.

Baler pivots and fires his weapon, striking Rivera in the face. He then runs up the stairs and calls to dispatch. He tells dispatch someone has shot at a cop. What he doesn’t say is, he’s the shooter. While Baker says it was an accident, Rivera’s family says other facts, along with the shooting, prove First-Degree Murder.

According to reports, Rivera and Baker had been in a romantic relationship. When Rivera found out Baker was seeing another woman, she broke it off with him. This, the family says, is the motive for his shooting and killing her. Plus, Baker failed to perform as a trained officer throughout this incident.

After Rivera is shot, the video shows Baker retreating up the stairs for about two minutes before going to check on and render any type of aid. He argues that he accidentally discharged his firearm, but he didn’t discharge it in the direction of the armed man. Why not? How did this happen? Where was his training? These are the questions the public is asking.

On the day of the shooting, a 27-year-old man named Jaylin Arnold was arrested by other responding officers. He was the original suspect and was charged with Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon and Armed Violence. Adrian Rucker, 25, was charged with Armed Violence and Aggravated Assault of a Peace Officer for allegedly aiming the rifle at Baker. Investigators believe Arnold and Rucker know each other and that it was Rucker who buzzed Arnold into the apartment building.

The Takeaway

Officer Baker has not been charged in the murder of his partner Rivera. However, Baker was placed on paid administrative leave after the shooting. During that time, he got into a bar fight. He was stripped of his police powers, badge and gun and assigned to non-emergency 311 calls. With the release of this video, Rivera’s family is again calling for First-Degree Murder charges to be filed against Baker. The CPD has since found that Baker did nothing wrong. Rivera’s family has filed a federal lawsuit against Baker and the CPD for the wrongful death of this young officer and mother.

Jermaine Reed, MFA is an educator and the Editor-in-Chief of TheReedersBlock. Take time to Subscribe. It helps promote independent journalism and the site. Follow him on TikTok, where he has over 9 million views and nearly 1 million likes. Help him get there.

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