Amir Worship family reaches settlement after 12-year-old boy shot during South Suburban Emergency Response Team raid in Markham

MARKHAM, Ill. (WLS) — The Village of Richton Park and a former Markham family have agreed to a $12 million settlement and a public apology more than three years after one of their police officers accidentally shot a then 12-year-old Amir Worship while executing a search warrant on the boy’s family home. The officer was a part of the South Suburban Emergency Response Team at the time.

“A police officer should not be able to shoot a 12-year-old child with an assault rifle for literally no reason,” said Al Hofeld Jr., the family’s attorney.

The shooting, according to this video deposition given last April by Amir Worship himself, happened while Worship – who was not a target of the raid – was sitting on the side of his bed, putting on a pair of shoes that was being handed to him by the officer in question.

“He was picking up and adjusting his gun,” Amir Worship said in the April 2022 deposition. “He picked it up and quickly aimed it and pointed it back at me… I remember screaming, saying, ‘You shot me.'”

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In a separate deposition, the officer said he believed the AR-15’s safety selector was not set to fire when the rifle went off. Worship has since undergone five surgeries. The now 16-year-old still walks with a limp, and will require multiple knee replacements throughout his life.

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“He lost his confidence in himself,” said his mother, Crystal Worship. “He was in a lot of pain.”

While he was removed from his role in the SWAT team as a result of what happened, three separate investigations – including one by the Illinois State Police – cleared the officer of any misconduct, which is why Eyewitness News is not naming him.

The Village of Richton Park issued a settlement-mandated apology that reads in part: “The accidental shooting of innocent, 12-year-old Amir, which could have resulted in his death, should never have occurred. We acknowledge the traumatic, physical and mental harm done to him and his family. We sincerely hope and pray that Amir and his family will fully recover, mentally and physically, and live long, healthy, and productive lives.”

While the officer himself met with Worship’s family to apologize last week, attorneys are calling on the state’s attorney’s office to open an investigation against him.

Attorneys for the officer said their client has an excellent background and there is nothing to suggest any kind of problems in the way he conducted himself that day.