The family of a man fatally shot by police five months ago is suing the city and the shooting officer, alleging the officer was excessive and unreasonable in his use of deadly force.
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In March, 42-year-old Derek Jordan was fatally wounded after an investigatory stop-turned-police pursuit in the Humboldt Park neighborhood.
The lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court last Friday by attorneys on behalf of Jordan’s estate, accuses both the city and Officer Max Walzer of wanton and willful conduct in the deadly shooting.
“We are seeking justice for Derek,” Antonio Romanucci, founding partner at Romanucci & Blandin, said at a news conference announcing the filing at the firm’s downtown office Monday afternoon. “His family is seeking justice for their son, their loved one and their brother.”
“But they also mean to bring meaningful systemic change,” Romanucci continued, “so this once and for all … can stop happening.”
Shortly after the March 9 shooting and crash on the 800 block of North Homan Avenue took place, Chicago police in a statement said that a group of officers were trying to do an investigatory stop on a vehicle thought to be connected to an earlier shooting when the car’s driver tried to flee. The car hit a woman who was walking, a CTA bus and an unmarked squad car, police said, and one of the officers fired as the group tried to arrest the driver.
Police later recovered a gun from the car, according to the department’s statement.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability launched an investigation into the shooting. A COPA spokesperson confirmed the investigation remained active and ongoing as of Monday afternoon but provided no further details on the status of the inquiry. Meanwhile, the Tribune reported that Walzer was relieved of his police powers days after the shooting and detailed to the alternate response section, a typical landing place for officers awaiting disciplinary action.
Police on Monday, however, confirmed that as of this week, Walzer was actively assigned to Harrison (11th) District.
Public records show Walzer has been a police officer since February 2022. Data from the Office of Inspector General shows he has been the subject of four misconduct complaints in that period, none of which were sustained by COPA. Jordan’s criminal history included prior drug convictions, records show, as well as a dropped domestic assault case.
Attorneys for Jordan’s estate, flanked by his loved ones at Monday’s news conference, called on the Cook County state’s attorney’s office to launch a criminal investigation into the incident. Their complaint seeks a jury trial.
“He didn’t deserve to die the way he died,” Jordan’s mother, Christine Thompkins, said to reporters through tears. Thompkins is named as the plaintiff in the newly filed suit as the special administrator of her son’s estate.
The 19-page complaint alleges that Walzer fatally shot Jordan with intent, lobbing several verbal threats towards Jordan in the moments before discharging his weapon.
“(The) circumstances required de-escalation, not escalation,” the complaint states.
COPA released footage of the incident — including clips from body-worn cameras, the CTA bus involved in the incident and nearby residences — in May. CTA footage captured just after 5:40 p.m. on the evening of March 9 shows Jordan exiting an alleyway in a white Mercedes before coming to a stop as the bus blocked the exit onto the street.
Jordan then rams into the bus as police approach from behind, footage shows. Two officers in plain clothes jump out and attempt to break into Jordan’s car as he attempts to move back and forth between the police car and bus blocking him in, ramming both. Two other officers then approach from the passenger side, one with his gun drawn.
Footage from Walzer’s body camera shows him approaching the scene at 5:41 p.m. As he rushes towards the white Mercedes, he can be heard over footage yelling, “Get out of the (expletive) car. I’ll (expletive) shoot you.”
After several shouts for the driver to get out, Walzer yells again, “I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you! Get out of the car,” according to his body camera. Several shots are then fired off.
At 5:42 p.m., Walzer is placed into a squad car by another officer on scene, footage shows. The other officer advises Walzer to relax and breathe. Fast heavy breathing can be heard over footage for several minutes.
Jordan’s family and legal team, in their complaint, allege that Walzer — and the city through him — acted with “utter indifference and conscious disregard” for Jordan’s health and safety. The filing, among a host of allegations, charges that Walzer discharged his weapon without lawful justification, used deadly force when there was no threat of imminent harm and failed to implement de-escalation techniques to prevent or reduce the need for force.
The complaint also maintains “this case cannot be understood in a vacuum.”
“It arises against the backdrop of the Chicago Police Department’s decades-long, extensively documented pattern of racially discriminatory policing and extensive force directed at Black men,” the complaint states.
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A spokesperson with the city’s Law Department said Monday afternoon that the city had not yet been served with the complaint and does not comment on pending litigation.
“I am sure my son was scared,” Christine Thompkins told reporters Monday. “But you said what you was gonna do. And you killed him.”
She promised that she would get justice for her son.
“I wanna understand,” Jordan’s father Derek Thompkins added. “These people are sworn to serve and protect. Just tell me who they’re protecting, because it damn sure ain’t us. Where does this stop?”