Lawsuit over controversial police shooting in Mount Greenwood settled just before trial

More than seven years after a racially charged melee and police shooting left a man dead in Mount Greenwood, a proposed settlement was reached last week between the city and the man’s family, court records show.

The settlement agreement between the city and the estate of Joshua Beal was announced last Friday, just days before the civil trial was set to commence at the Richard J. Daley Center. The terms were not known Monday, and attorneys for Beal’s family and the city did not respond to requests for comment.

The shooting occurred on West 111th Street on an unseasonably warm weekend afternoon in early November 2016 – just days before the presidential election – after Beal, of Indianapolis, and members of his family had left a funeral nearby.

The eruption of gunfire in the Far Southwest Side neighborhood prompted several protests by local Black Lives Matter demonstrators, who were met with racial hostility and derision by residents of Mount Greenwood.

On Nov. 6, 2016, Beal and his family were traveling west on 111th Street after attending a funeral at Mt. Hope Cemetery. Moments later, off-duty Chicago Police officer Joseph Treacy became involved in a road-rage incident with members of Beal’s family, who were going to visit an ailing relative in the hospital.

Beal’s family alleged that Treacy “was screaming racial obscenities at Beal and at other funeral attendees prior to the shooting.”

Treacy, who denied using any racial epithets, soon separated from the group and the convoy eventually came to a stop outside the Chicago Fire Department firehouse at 111th and Troy. Two vehicles carrying Beal and other family members had stopped in the firehouse’s “apron,” and an off-duty CFD recruit stopped his vehicle to tell them to move out of the way.

That CFD recruit, Ryne Kinsella, allegedly screamed more racial epithets at the group, and members of Beal’s family soon physically attacked Kinsella in the middle of 111th Street, leaving him with bloody wounds on his face and neck. Treacy — no longer a CPD officer — saw the attack on Kinsella and exited his vehicle with his gun drawn.

“Plaintiff’s Family responded to Kinsella’s verbal statements, including any racial epithet, by descending upon, attacking, and battering him for about 10 seconds,” the attorney for Kinsella’s estate wrote in a recent court filing. “About forty seconds later, after the physical attack on Kinsella concluded, decedent Beal (not Kinsella) ‘ended’ the chain of events by starting a new assault on Treacy by criminally racking, raising, and pointing his firearm at him, after Treacy holstered his gun and posed no threat.”

Video footage of the shooting previously released by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability shows Treacy also holding his badge while announcing his office as he came to Kinsella’s aid. A woman who witnessed the fight called 911 as she stood on the nearby sidewalk, and she was also attacked by members of Beal’s family.

Another off-duty CPD officer, Sgt. Thomas Derouin, was driving to work at the Morgan Park District station when he, too, happened upon the brawl. Treacy then holstered his weapon.

Moments later, Beal retrieved his own gun from inside his car and pointed it at the officers. Treacy and Derouin both opened fire, killing Beal. Video footage shows Kinsella attempting CPR on Beal after he was shot.

COPA eventually found the shooting to be within CPD policy, writing:

“COPA recognizes the racially charged and tense nature surrounding the tragic events. Video evidence captured Officer Treacy announcing he was a police officer after a Chicago Fire Department member was being beaten by several members of the group,” the agency found. “Officer Treacy initially responded [by] lowering and raising his weapon consistent with the advancement and de-escalation of the crowd. Video evidence does also display a raised weapon in the hand of Joshua Beal prior to the officers discharging their firearms.”

Treacy was later suspended for 90 days for failing to register several guns with CPD.