Police Brutality / Individual record
Richard Grimes
The Washington Post's Fatal Force database records Richard Grimes in a fatal on-duty police shooting on 2016-11-27 in Chicago, IL. Individual circumstances and legal outcome require case-specific review.
- Record ID
- PB-557
- Incident date
- November 27, 2016
- Outcome
- Fatal
- Location
- Chicago, IL
- Agency
- Chicago Police Department
- Category
- Fatal on-duty police shooting
- Age (reported)
- 33
What happened
Richard Grimes, 33, was fatally shot by Chicago police in West Garfield Park on November 27, 2016, after officers responded to a domestic-violence emergency. Police and prosecutors said Grimes shot his pregnant girlfriend, Ashley Williams, and fled with a handgun. Officer Thomas Surma encountered Grimes and suffered a grazing head wound during an exchange of gunfire; other officers joined the pursuit. Five officers—Surma, Monica Calixto, Miles Furlet, Sean Najm, and Curtis Wallace—ultimately fired at Grimes after they reported that he pointed a weapon at them. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability examined body- and dashboard-camera videos, municipal camera footage, dispatch communications, witness testimony, medical findings and firearms evidence. The Cook County State's Attorney's Office reviewed the completed investigation and found insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against the officers. The prosecution memorandum supplies an official reconstruction and a charging decision rather than a judicial finding on contested events.
Investigation & findings
Individual legal and investigative outcome not yet reviewed.
Washington Post Fatal Force v2; 2015–2024
Source record details
- Source incident ID
- 2081
- Race code in source
- B
- Race source method
- not_available
- Gender (source)
- male
- Armed status (source)
- gun
- Flee status (source)
- foot
- Agency IDs (source)
- 265
Sources & records
- Primary source
- Additional source
- Methodology and national police killings trackingMapping Police Violence · Dataset/methodology
- Fatal Force v2 — fatal on-duty police shootings, 2015–2024The Washington Post · Dataset