Family of Derek Jordan Sues Chicago Police, Says Officer Arrived 'Unjustifiably Hot' Before Fatal Shooting

The family of Derek Jordan filed a lawsuit Monday against the city of Chicago and the police officer who shot and killed him in March, arguing the officer's own aggression turned a tense but contained standoff into a fatal shooting within seconds of his arrival.

Law firm Romanucci & Blandin announced the suit on behalf of Jordan's parents, Christine and Derek Thompkins, naming Chicago Police Officer Max Walzer as a defendant alongside the city. Jordan, 42, died March 9 near the intersection of North Homan and West Chicago avenues in Humboldt Park after police tried to stop a car connected to a shooting reported earlier that day on the Eisenhower Expressway near Oak Park.

According to the lawsuit, two plainclothes officers in an unmarked car approached Jordan's white sedan in what attorney Maura White described as an attempt to ambush him. Jordan drove off, and White said he may not have known the armed men in street clothes were police. He drove into an alley that was then blocked by a CTA bus in front and the unmarked squad car behind him. Officers ordered him out of the car. Jordan tried to drive forward anyway, striking the bus, the squad car and a parked car on Homan Avenue, according to body-worn camera footage cited in the filing.

More officers arrived at that point, and the lawsuit says they worked to de-escalate the situation. Walzer arrived separately, gun already drawn, and yelled "Get out of the f---ing car, I'll kill you" at Jordan, according to the footage and the filing. Less than 20 seconds after Walzer got to the scene, he fired six shots into Jordan's car. Body camera video shows Jordan briefly turning his front wheels away from Walzer just before the shots were fired.

"Officer Walzer came in unjustifiably hot to assume that Derek Jordan was inside a car that was blocked by several police officers," attorney Antonio Romanucci said at a press conference Monday. "[Other officers] were on site working to de-escalate the situation, while Walzer arrived at the scene with his gun drawn, immediately shouting multiple verbal threats to kill Derek."

Footage released earlier this year by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability shows Walzer continuing to shout for Jordan to get out of the car after firing, while another officer says "I see his head" and a third opens the passenger door. Bystanders can be heard on the recordings, including one man who pleads, "Please, don't shoot, man." Walzer responds, "He's wanted for murder. Shut the f--- up," as others break the car window to check on Jordan.

The lawsuit notes there were no reported fatalities in the shooting that police believed Jordan's car was linked to, and a spokesperson for Romanucci & Blandin said it remains unclear whether Jordan's license plate had actually been confirmed as a match to the vehicle sought in that earlier incident.

A Chicago police spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit. The city's Law Department said it had not yet been served with the filing. Walzer was placed on administrative duties following the shooting, a standard step after officer-involved shootings in the department, though he has not been charged with a crime.

Romanucci called on city and county officials to open a murder investigation into Walzer's conduct. His firm has represented the family of George Floyd and is currently representing the family of Renee Good, who was fatally shot by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis in January.

Jordan's parents spoke at Monday's press conference in Humboldt Park, describing the toll his death has taken on them. "I have a hole in my heart that will be there forever," Derek Thompkins said. "When this person killed my son, he killed me also. I just haven't laid down yet. Every day I think of my son."

Christine Thompkins, Jordan's mother, said she has been unable to return to her job as a nurse since her son's death. "I am a wreck," she said. "[Walzer] took my baby. I ask you, how does that person who killed my son sleep at night? How does he eat? How does his family feel? ... I can promise you, I am not going to back down. I will get justice for Derek."

The lawsuit seeks damages from the city and Walzer over what the family's attorneys describe as an unjustified use of deadly force. No court date has been set, and the city has not filed a formal response. Romanucci said his firm expects to push for depositions from officers who were on scene, including those the lawsuit credits with trying to de-escalate the encounter before Walzer arrived and opened fire.