A city camera at the corner where a 6-year-old girl was shot last month wasn’t recording at the time, according to authorities.
“The camera was working for live viewing but not recording,” said Melissa Stratton, a spokesman for the Office of Emergency Management and Communications. “The camera was brought into the shop, and it was determined that the encoder failed.”
Tacarra Morgan was shot about 1 p.m. July 19 just south of 60th Street on Paulina Avenue in the West Englewood neighborhood. Police said three cars heading south as a convoy on Paulina from 59th stopped twice — once just a few feet north of 60th Street — and someone stepped out to fire shots.
Police asked for the video the next day, and OEMC realized the camera was not working. The camera was brought into the shop July 20 and “diagnosed with an encoder issue,” Stratton said.
“The encoder was ordered and received on (July 29). It was installed into the camera and tested well,” she said. The camera was scheduled to be replaced Wednesday.
Tacarra was shot just north of the intersection as she scrambled up porch stairs and tried to get inside her grandfather’s house. The vehicles would have had to pass the camera while fleeing if they continued south, turned east or turned west from the intersection.
Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Chicago Police Department, said no other useful footage was obtained.
Police reported no one in custody.
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