Decorated Disabled Veteran Shot on 4th of July By Police

Shot on the Fourth of July, Veteran Says 
Courthouse News Service
By LORRAINE BAILEY
Monday, July 06, 2015

Smith says he was hit five times in his chest, stomach, arm and legs, and grazed by two bullets on his face and neck.

CHICAGO (CN) - A decorated veteran was drinking a beer on the street last July 4 when Chicago police chased and shot him five times, he claims in Federal Court.

Levail Smith says he fought in Operation Desert Storm with the U.S. Marine Corps, service that earned him three Bronze Stars, a Combat Action Ribbon, a Navy Unit Commendation, the National Defense Services Medal, the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, the Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia) and the Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait).

That tour also left Smith with post-traumatic stress disorder, however, and he says qualifies as fully disabled.

Smith was doing his laundry in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood at approximately 11:30 a.m. on July 4, 2014, when he stepped outside and joined a group of men standing on the sidewalk, according to a federal complaint Smith filed last week.

He says one of the men handed him a can of beer, and that an unmarked police car immediately descended on him after he took a sip.

Seeing Officer Tim Manning place his hand on his gun after getting out of the car, Smith says the threatening gesture triggered his PTSD, causing him to fear for his life and run.
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