Cop shoots unarmed man lying face-down on ground, police say shooting justified

In the video, Flint Farmer was lying on the grass between the curb and the sidewalk. It was shortly before 2 a.m. on a June morning in the West Englewood neighborhood, and Farmer had been shot by a Chicago police officer. Then, according to the video, the veteran officer, Gildardo Sierra, stepped onto the parkway and walked a semicircle about the prone Farmer as three bright flashes went off.

The flashes, captured by a police car video camera, were fatal shots fired into Farmer's back, officials say.

That shooting was the third by the officer since January — and the second fatality in those six months, records show.

Sierra fired 16 shots at Farmer, hitting him seven times, autopsy reports show. A Cook County deputy medical examiner, after performing an autopsy and later reviewing the video, said the three shots in the back were the fatal wounds.

Sierra told investigators he feared for his life because he believed Farmer had a gun.

In fact, Farmer was only holding a cellphone.

Despite the video, the Police Department ruled Farmer's June 7 death justified, just as it had Sierra's other two shootings this year.