Determined not to go to jail, Sean “DaDon” Reed led Indianapolis police on a high speed chase Wednesday before parking his car and attempting to make his getaway on foot – all while live streaming on Facebook as more than a thousand people watched.
He was gunned down within seconds.
Police say Reed fired at them before he was killed but at no point in the video does Reed make any reference to a gun. The video also shows Reed was killed seconds after he appeared to remove the phone from his pocket, raising the question that the cop may have confused the phone for a gun which happens periodically.
The phone remains live streaming for several seconds after the gunshots, pointing at the sky, capturing a man’s voice repeatedly exclaiming, “Oh, my god!” as police sirens get louder.
Minutes later as more cops arrive on the scene, a male voice can be heard saying what sounds like, “Oh, he actually got one off?” Another male voice can be heard saying what sounds like, “think it’s gonna be a closed casket homie.” The video ends when a man wearing a tie and covering his face with a notepad picks up the phone and turns it off.
Police say they began chasing him after spotting him driving erratically at a high rate of speed, according to the Indy Channel.
According to a public information officer for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, the male suspect was shot during an exchange of gunfire with police at North Michigan Road and West 62nd Street. The officer was not wounded.
A police report says IMPD Deputy Chief Kendale Adams was on Interstate-65 near West 30th Street at about 6 p.m. Wednesday when he saw a Toyota Corolla driving recklessly. Right behind Adams in another car was IMPD Chief Randal Taylor.
As Adams called for additional help and began a pursuit, the vehicle got off the highway and headed up Michigan Road at a high rate of speed and running stoplights.
Adams and Taylor removed themselves from the pursuit as police in marked cars got involved. The pursuit was called off at 6:10 p.m,, according to the IMPD report.
Six minutes later, an officer saw the Toyota pull into the back of a business at 62nd Street and Michigan Road. The driver jumped out of the car and was ordered by the officer to stop. Instead, the suspect ran with the officer right behind. Initial information indicates the officer used his taser, at which time there was an exchange of gunfire between the suspect and the officer. The suspect was struck by the gunfire and died at the scene. The officer was not wounded.
At one point during the pursuit, Reed is under the impression that he lost the cops after they discontinued the chase but then it began again when an officer spotted his car.
“Please come get my stupid ass,” Reed pleaded to his followers as he ditched the car and tried to getaway on foot.
It appears as if Reed places the phone in his pocket as he runs. At one point, he says, “What’cha say?” as if responding to somebody. Then a few seconds later, it appears as if he takes the phone out of his pocket.
A male voice shouts what sounds like, “Stop now!” and Reed responds by saying “fuck you!”.
Police say they tasered Reed before shooting him. We have slowed the portion of the video leading to the shooting and it shows Reed appearing to fall to the ground immediately after saying “fuck you” to the cop.
Then a male’s voice, presumably the cop, says, “shit!”. That is followed by the sounds of 14 gunshots. The shooting has sparked protests in Indianapolis.
Facebook deleted the original video but several clips of the incident have been posted online. The first video below and the one embedded above (which apparently can’t be scene by readers on a desktop) has been edited down to show the beginning and the portion where he runs and gets shot, following by the shooting in slow motion which provides more context.
At around the 1:17 mark in that video, it appears as if he is holding something black in his hand but it looks more like a phone than a gun. It also shows he was tasered from behind so he would have had to turn around to exchange gunfire with the cop.
That video is followed by several clips, including the clip of the cops talking about a closed casket. The fourth video appears to begin when the chase initially began and Reed saying, “I’m not going to jail today. You gotta catch me, baby!” The fifth video is a police spokesman giving their version of the shooting.
