Chicago Officer Could Face 8-Year Term For Shooting At Teens

Marco Proano
A screen grab from a 2013 dashcam video shows Chicago police officer Marco Proano before he opens fire on a car. Courtesy
Marco Proano
A screen grab from a 2013 dashcam video shows Chicago police officer Marco Proano before he opens fire on a car. Courtesy

Chicago Officer Could Face 8-Year Term For Shooting At Teens

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Federal prosecutors are seeking an eight-year prison sentence for a Chicago police officer who shot into a car full of teenagers in December 2013, wounding two of them.

Officer Marco Proano was convicted in August of two counts of civil rights violations after prosecutors said he fired into the car as it backed up after being stopped for speeding.

Dashcam video shows Proano firing toward a person inside the car. Proano’s attorney, Daniel Herbert, said an officer is allowed by law to use deadly force if he believes the target poses a threat.

In a court filing Monday, prosecutors said Proano could have killed all six teenagers when he fired indiscriminately into the car.

Proano is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 20. Chicago’s former agency that investigated Chicago police misconduct, the Independent Police Review Authority, ruled in August that the department should fire Proano. He has been on unpaid suspension since last year.

After Proano was convicted the Chicago Police Department filed termination charges against Proano, which are pending before the Chicago Police Board, Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.