Politics
CPD Officer Who Fired 3 Shots at Suspected Carjacker on 606 Trail Faces Firing: Records
(WTTW News)
The Chicago police officer who fired three shots on the 606 Bloomingdale Trail at a man he suspected of an attempted carjacking should be fired, the agency tasked with investigating police misconduct concluded.
However, former Chicago Police Supt. David Brown disagreed with that finding, concluding that Lt. Mike Keeney did nothing wrong on April 22, 2021, when he fired three gunshots at a man suspected of committing multiple crimes while armed with a gun, including a robbery and carjacking, according to records published Thursday.
That disagreement meant it was up to a randomly chosen member of the Chicago Police Board to determine whether Brown met “his burden of overcoming” former Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten’s recommendation.
Former Chicago Police Board member Steve Block was randomly chosen to decide whether to uphold the former superintendent’s decision or send the matter to the full police board.
In a four-page ruling, Block determined in August that Brown had not met his burden to overturn Kersten’s recommendation that Keeney be fired.
Under the city’s current rules, that would send the matter to the Chicago Police Board for a full hearing to determine whether Keeney should be fired.
However, Chicago officials will not be able to fire Keeney any time soon because of a long-running dispute over whether officers accused of serious misconduct have the right to ask an arbitrator — and not the Chicago Police Board — to decide their fate, and whether those proceedings must take place in public.
The Illinois Supreme Court heard arguments about that case Thursday. A decision could come before the end of the year.
It is unclear why the probe took more than five years to complete.
Keeney declined to comment when reached by WTTW News on Friday. He is an inactive member of the department, a CPD spokesperson said.
Keeney, who was a sergeant at the time of the shooting in April 2021, was promoted to lieutenant in August 2022 while still under investigation, records show.
In December 2025, Mayor Brandon Johnson called for the Chicago Police Department to change the way it promotes members after an officer who shot a teenager was promoted even though COPA leaders had recommended he be fired.
Records published in August show that a police sergeant who oversaw a botched raid was also promoted despite facing termination.
Santiago Leon, the man Keeney shot at but missed, was arrested soon afterward, records show.
Leon pleaded guilty in 2024 to several charges stemming from the incident, including armed robbery, aggravated assault of a peace officer with a firearm and aggravated vehicular hijacking. Leon is serving a 20-year sentence, records show.
Keeney told investigators Leon disregarded an order to stop running and pointed a revolver at him before continuing to flee when Keeney fired the shots, records show.
However, COPA concluded the shooting violated CPD’s policy, since Leon was trying to avoid or flee from Keeney, instead of harming him.
“Sgt. Keeney was not facing an imminent threat when he used deadly force,” COPA concluded. “At the time Sgt. Keeney fired three shots from his firearm, actions were not ‘immediately likely to cause death or great bodily harm’ to another unless action was taken.”
Keeney did not fire at Leon at the moment he told investigators Leon pointed a revolver at him, according to his statement to investigators and video captured by his body-worn camera, according to COPA’s probe.
“When Sgt. Keeney fired his first round, (Leon) was running towards the fence and changed his path of flight to avoid Sgt. Keeney,” COPA concluded. “Additionally, in response to Sgt. Keeney pointing his firearm at and commanding him to get to the ground, (Leon) slightly raised and waved his left hand, that did not have the firearm, while continuing to run toward the fence, veering away from Sgt. Keeney, and mumbling something in response.”
When Keeney fired the second and third shot, Leon was climbing the fence, COPA concluded.
“Use of deadly force in violation of department policy is a significant form of misconduct, undermines public trust in the Department, and should not be tolerated from any member, let alone a sergeant,” COPA concluded.
However, Brown disagreed, finding that Keeney’s action “was objectively reasonable, necessary and proportional to the imminent threat,” according to his letter to Kersten, concluding that Keeney “fired only as a necessary last resort to prevent from shooting him or someone else and also to stop from using his firearm to escape arrest.”
WTTW News coverage of policing and police reform is supported by The Joyce Foundation.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
