Oak Park officials released camera footage from a fatal police involved shooting in May, showing the incident began with a traffic stop, escalated after the officer found a gun in the man’s waistband and ended with the policeman shooting the man as he tried to flee.
The village released footage of the shooting from three body-worn cameras, one in-vehicle dashboard camera and two gas station security cameras that shed light on what happened May 31.
The footage shows an officer pulling behind a vehicle and conducting a traffic stop at a gas station in the vicinity of Harrison Street and Austin Boulevard at approximately 9:10 p.m.
The officer walked to a black SUV and told the driver, Christian Wallace, a 38-year old Chicago resident, that he was being stopped because he failed to signal that he was changing lanes.
The Village of Oak Park released footage from multiple camera angles that shows a fatal officer-involved shooting that left Christian Wallace, a 38-year-old Chicago man, dead on Sunday, May 31, 2026.
After Wallace provided his driver’s license and vehicle registration, the officer told him to exit the vehicle. The officer conducted a pat down and asked if Wallace had any weapons. Wallace responded “No,” as shown in the video. While patting Wallace down, the officer found a gun on Wallace’s person and attempted to wrestle him to the ground.
The two proceeded to have a physical struggle over the firearm and the officer told Wallace multiple times during the struggle, “Do not reach or you will be shot,” as shown in the camera footage. As the two wrestled over the gun, the officer called for backup that was slow in arriving, according to the video footage.
As Wallace broke away from the struggle and ran away, the officer shot his service weapon nine times at Wallace, hitting him four times, according to a village report.
Wallace was administered aid on the scene for more than three minutes before he was transported to Loyola University Medical Center, a village report said, where he was later pronounced dead at 9:59 p.m.
A firearm with a defaced serial number was recovered at the scene, according to a village report.
The released video footage captures the incident from various angles, but the shooting officer’s body camera appears to fall to the ground at one point during the incident.
Oak Park Mayor Vicki Scaman released a statement about the incident on Tuesday after the village released the video.
“My heart continues to be with the family and friends of Christian Wallace during this incredibly difficult time,” Scaman said. “Until now, the video was withheld so that the Public Integrity Task Force could maintain the integrity of its investigation. Today, we can take an important step toward transparency owed to those family and friends, and to the entire community, with the release of the footage.”
Oak Park police Chief Shatonya Johnson said the incident remains under investigation.
“We recognize this video may be difficult to watch, and our thoughts remain with everyone affected by this incident,” she said in a statement. “As the independent investigation continues, we ask the community to remember that the video is one piece of evidence and that all facts must be carefully reviewed before conclusions are reached.”
Even before the video release, the incident drew criticism from some Oak Park residents.
“There is no world where a police officer needs to shoot at someone nine times, hitting them four,” said Kristina Rogers at a June 9 Village Board meeting. “No world.”
baiduhai’s Gregory Royal Pratt contributed.