The Chicago police officers involved in the March 2024 shooting of Dexter Reed were largely cleared of wrongdoing by investigators with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, city records show.
Five officers were involved in the traffic stop that preceded the shooting that left Reed dead and a Chicago Police Department officer wounded. COPA records show the five faced 15 different allegations of misconduct — civil rights violations, excessive force and a weapons discharge.
Of those, just one charge of excessive force was sustained, records show. Available information does not make clear which officer saw the sustained allegation.
In a statement to the Tribune, Reed family attorney Andrew M. Stroth said: “The family of Dexter Reed deserves to see the full investigative report from the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. Dexter was a victim of an unconstitutional traffic stop and then unjustifiably shot and killed by a Chicago Police Officer. It is our understanding that this same officer is currently under investigation for threatening another police officer.”
A CPD spokesperson declined to comment but confirmed the case is now under review by police Superintendent Larry Snelling’s office. A spokesperson for Mayor Brandon Johnson didn’t respond to a request for comment.
COPA’s investigation concluded in late 2025, according to an agency spokesperson, and investigators’ findings and any recommended discipline now sit with CPD, records show. The Police Department must next decide if it agrees with COPA’s conclusions before any potential discipline could be meted out. A Freedom of Information Act request to inspect the final COPA report was denied because the disciplinary case is still pending.
Reed, 26, was stopped by the five tactical team officers in the 3800 block of West Ferdinand Street shortly after 6 p.m. on March 21, 2024. Moments later, while still in the driver’s seat, Reed shot Officer Gregory Saint Louis in the wrist. The four other plainclothes officers — Thomas Spanos, Alexandra Giampapa, Victor Pacheco and Aubrey Webb — then opened fire.
The shooting was captured entirely on the officers’ body-worn cameras and quickly drew condemnation. Investigators later determined the four officers fired nearly 100 shots, including three that were fired as Reed — a former standout basketball player at Westinghouse College Prep high school — was lying motionless on the ground.
The officer who fired those shots, Spanos, fired his gun 50 times in 41 seconds.
Reed’s family later filed a federal lawsuit against the officers and the city. Last year, though, the City Council rejected a $1.25 million payment to settle the suit. Federal court records show the case remains pending, and an amended complaint was filed by Reed’s family in December.
COPA records show the five officers involved in the traffic stop and shooting were for months on the radar of misconduct investigators. Snelling called for the officers to be suspended for their actions in other traffic stops in CPD’s Harrison (11th) District. City records show two of the officers, Giampapa and Saint Louis, no longer work for CPD.
Last weekend, CPD and COPA investigators opened a new inquiry into Spanos after he allegedly threatened a CPD detective while off-duty at a bar in the Norwood Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side. The confrontation was first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times.
According to a source familiar with the investigation, Spanos approached the detective inside Tommy’s on Higgins early Saturday and threatened him. By the time Jefferson Park (16th) District police arrived, Spanos and others had allegedly left the bar and were outside as a fight brewed. Spanos remained on active duty as of Wednesday, according to a Police Department spokesperson. Spanos could not be reached for comment.
