Testimony in a Chicago police whistleblower lawsuit opened Tuesday, with Officer Isaac Lambert recounting the first hours of the investigation into the 2017 shooting of an unarmed, autistic teenager by an off-duty cop.

Lambert claims he was demoted for refusing to alter reports to clear fellow Officer Khalid Muhammad of wrongdoing for firing his weapon at 18-year-old Ricardo Hayes, a shooting that would eventually earn Muhammad a six-month suspension and lead to a $2.25 million payout to settle Hayes’ lawsuit against the city.

“When i arrived to the scene there was a shell casing near [Muhammad’s] vehicle, that led me to believe he shot from the car,” Lambert said, saying he grew more concerned when a detective gave him Muhammad’s version of events.

Muhammad said he had spotted Hayes acting suspiciously — surveillance camera footage would show the teen running and skipping along the 10900 block of South Hermosa Ave.— as Muhammad drove home from his shift. Muhammad, who spoke only briefly to detectives before saying he intended to wait for a union representative, said he called to Hayes from his SUV, and shot at the teen as Hayes approached because Hayes had an object in his hand. Hayes was struck twice and was able to run away.

“He initiated the contact with this kid, and then he shot him,” Lambert said.

Lambert spent two hours on the witness stand Tuesday, describing a long career in CPD which, according to his lawsuit, took a turn for the worse after he refused to alter...

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