Paul O'Neal

Paul O'Neal, 18, was shot in the back and killed by Chicago Police Officer Jose Diaz on July 28, 2016, after fleeing on foot from a stolen Jaguar convertible he had crashed into two police vehicles during a chase in the South Shore neighborhood. O'Neal was unarmed. Two other officers had already fired roughly a dozen shots into the car itself before he ran, in apparent violation of the department's own policy against shooting into a moving vehicle when it poses the only danger. The medical examiner classified O'Neal's death a homicide. Following an investigation, no criminal charges were ever filed against any of the three officers who fired. In 2020, the Chicago Police Board fired two of the officers who had shot at the car — but not Diaz, the officer whose shot actually killed O'Neal. The city settled a wrongful death lawsuit with O'Neal's mother for $2.25 million later that year. No one has ever been charged in O'Neal's death.

Chicago, IL · Cook County

• 2016: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• The stolen-vehicle chase, the crash, and the shooting, per Chicago Police Department body and dash camera footage released publicly in August 2016.
• O'Neal, driving a Jaguar convertible reported stolen from a neighboring suburb, struck two Chicago police vehicles and a parked car during the chase; two officers then fired at the vehicle itself while O'Neal was still inside it.
• O'Neal fled the car on foot after crashing it and was pursued by a third officer, Jose Diaz, who fatally shot him once in the back as he ran; roughly fifteen shots were fired in total across the encounter by the three officers.
• Chicago's own use-of-force policy specifically prohibits officers from firing into a vehicle when the car itself is the only danger present, though the policy allows exceptions when deadly force is reasonably necessary to prevent death or serious injury.
• The three officers who fired were stripped of police powers following a preliminary investigation; after a full investigation, no criminal charges were brought against any of them.
• In March 2020, the Chicago Police Board ordered the firing of Officers Michael Coughlin and Jose Torres, who had fired into the vehicle, for their roles in the shooting; Officer Jose Diaz, who fired the shot that killed O'Neal, was not fired.
• The City of Chicago settled a wrongful death lawsuit brought by O'Neal's mother for $2.25 million in 2020, the same year the two other officers were fired.

• Whether Diaz's decision to fire at O'Neal as he fled unarmed on foot was justified under the circumstances, separate from the department's own finding that firing into the vehicle itself violated policy, was never resolved by any criminal trial since none was brought.
• Why disciplinary review concluded that Coughlin and Torres's conduct warranted firing while Diaz's did not, despite Diaz being the officer whose shot actually killed O'Neal, has not been fully explained in available public reporting.
• The full reasoning behind the Cook County State's Attorney's decision not to bring criminal charges against any of the three officers has not been made comprehensively public.

• Chicago Tribune — “Video from cop shooting of teenager 'horrific,' family lawyer says”
• Chicago Tribune — “Paul O'Neal fatally shot by police in back: autopsy”
• CBS News Chicago — “Police Board Orders 2 Officers Fired In 2016 Shooting That Killed Paul O'Neal”
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs