Illinois police who shot unarmed black man left him to bleed to death without providing medical aid for eight minutes because they feared he might have a gun after he 'fled traffic stop'

Police in suburban Chicago left an unarmed black man who had just been mortally wounded by an officer to bleed out for eight minutes without administering first aid because they feared that he or his girlfriend could have a gun, according to newly released police reports.

The documents related to the October 20 shooting of Marcellis Stinnette were released this week to the Lake County News-Sun in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. 

Stinnette and Tafar Williams, his girlfriend and the mother of his infant child, were shot in their car by an Hispanic officer after fleeing a traffic stop involving a white cop. 

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Newly released police reports have revealed that Illinois officers failed to immediately provide medical aid to Marcellis Stinnette, 19 , after shooting him. They feared that he or his girlfriend, Tafar Williams were armed 

Waukegan police released clips from multiple cameras to piece together the incident. Although Salinas' bodycam was not on, they were able to obtain his dashcam video

Last week, Stinnette's mother, Zharvellis Holmes, filed a lawsuit accusing Waukegan Police officers of letting her son bleed to death in the eight minutes it took for an ambulance to arrive.

In that federal suit, and in another filed by Stinnette's girlfriend, who was seriously wounded, attorneys said the couple posed no threat to the officers when they were shot and that neither was armed.

The attorneys have also disputed Officer Dante Salinas' claim heard on his body camera video that he opened fire after Williams tried to run him over with her car.

But while the police department reports acknowledge no weapon was found in the vehicle, they also detail officers' claims that they were worried the couple might be armed and were unable to determine immediately whether or not that was true.

The reports say the officers eventually pulled Stinnette from the vehicle and laid him out on the street. He had been shot in the abdomen.

According to the reports, Salinas was 'visibly shaken' following the shooting. He was fired soon after, in large part because he failed to activate his body camera until after the shooting, which was a violation of department policy.

Moments before the shooting, James Keating, a white officer, approached the couple as they sat in a car in front of Williams´ home. As the officer attempted to arrest Stinnette on an alleged outstanding warrant from Florida, Williams, who was in the driver's seat, sped off.

Williams, 20, was shot in the stomach and hand. She gave an emotional press conference from her hospital bed last month, insisting she and Stinnette had done nothing wrong 

On video released by the city, Keating can be heard claiming on his radio, 'Hey, they just ran me over.' Attorneys for Williams have said that she never tried to run Keating over.

During a news conference held at her hospital bedside last month, Williams recalled the moments leading up to the shooting.

She said she and Stinnette were sitting in her car to smoke after putting their seven-month-old son to bed.

Just before midnight on October 20, they were approached by Officer Keating who pulled up to their vehicle and began questioning them.

'I rolled down my windows and turned on all the lights inside the car so the officer could see I had no weapons and I wasn't doing anything illegal,' Williams stated.

Williams said the white cop called Stinnette by his first name, saying he knew him from when he was in jail and that he was under arrest on an outstanding warrant from Florida, which turned out to have been non-extraditable.

Stinnette's mother, Zharvellis Holmes, filed a lawsuit last week, accusing Waukegan Police officers of letting her son bleed to death in the eight minutes it took for an ambulance to arrive. 

Trevor Williams, the father of 20-year-old Tafara Williams, marches with demonstrators protesting the October 20 police shooting that killed Stinnette and left his daughter with serious injuries

Protests since the incident have been largely peaceful, including this October 22 march

She then allegedly asked Keating whether they were free to leave. He did not reply, so Williams said she drove away and the officer did not follow.

Williams claimed her car was then subsequently approached by another police vehicle, which was laying in wait. It was being driven by Officer Salinas.

Williams alleged she then lost control of her car and crashed into a building, which prompted Salinas to fire his gun, just 12 seconds after spotting the vehicle. 

'Why did you shoot? I didn't do nothing wrong. I have a license,' Williams said, addressing the officer from her hospital bed. 'You didn't tell me I was under arrest.' 

Salinas disputed the woman's version of events, saying that he shot in self-defense after the car began to reverse towards him. 

Waukegan Police Chief Wayne Walles said Salinas committed 'multiple policies and procedure violations' during the shooting. Salinas, who is Hispanic, was a five-year veteran of the force. 

The lawsuit filed last month by Stinnette's mother suggested that Keating, the first officer who encountered the couple smoking in their car, ratcheted up the tension of the situation by falsely claiming on his radio: 'Hey, they just ran me over.'

It also argued that Williams didn't try to run over Salinas, as he can be heard saying on body camera video that he failed to turn on until after the shooting.

Even after Williams screamed, 'He got shot, he got shot, he needs help,' the officers on the scene 'did not render any aid at this time,' Holmes' lawsuit says.

Officers 'eventually' pulled Stinnette from the vehicle and placed him on the ground, then 'waited on the scene for an ambulance,' the lawsuit said. 

Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham speaks during a prayer vigil on October 25, 2020 in Waukegan

In this October 28 photo, Marcellis Stinnette's grandmother Sherrellis Stinnette cries during a press conference, in Des Plaines, Illinois, after viewing the videos of the shooting

Stinnette 'did not receive medical assistance for over eight minutes, while he bled out on the ground,' according to the complaint. 

Stinnette succumbed to his injuries in the hospital, while Williams sustained wounds to her stomach and hand. 

Lake County State's Attorney Michael Nerheim has asked the U.S. Justice Department to 'review the circumstances' surrounding the October 20 shooting, and once the independent investigation is completed it will be turned over to the state's attorney office for review.  

Protests since the incident have been largely peaceful, and Waukegan has avoided the kind of looting and violence that occurred in nearby Kenosha, Wisconsin, just 15 miles north of Waukegan, after a white police officer shot a black man, Jacob Blake, in the back seven times in August.