Dash Cam Video Showing Shooting of Black Chicago Teen to Be Released

An attorney for McDonald’s family who has seen the video says the footage shows the teen was holding a small knife and walking away from officers when one officer opened fire.

He was shot 16 times.

“It’s my hope and my prayer that everybody who’s working on this case will see it the way the public sees it and that he’ll lose his job”, said Ald.

McDonald, 17, died. He was shot 16 times.

Charles Rex Arbogast/AP Attorneys Michael Robbins (l.) and Jeffrey Neslund, counsel for the mother of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald who was fatally shot by a Chicago police officer, talk to reporters Thursday.

On Thursday, in a packed city courtroom, Judge Franklin Valderrama ordered the release of the video by next week. The attorney for the department asked the judge to allow more time before the release while the city decides whether to appeal the decision. The officer who shot McDonald is still on the Chicago police’s payroll and has been placed on paid desk duty until an on-going investigation is completed.

No one has ever seen this incident because the Chicago Police Department illegally withheld the video from the public. At Thursday night’s police board meeting, the crowd called for the firing of various officers involved in shootings – including the one seen on video shooting and killing McDonald.

The statement says the city will release the video by Wednesday as ordered. Police have said he had threatened them with a knife and slashed at the tires and windshield of a patrol auto.

“At the point which my client confronted Mr. McDonald, my client was aware of the fact that the individual (McDonald) had not complied with numerous police orders to drop the knife”, Herbert said.

An appalling 18 complaints have been filed against Officer Van Dyke in his career, but not a single thing was done about any of them. Why?

But a statement a few hours later from Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office indicates there will be no appeal.

“Police officers are entrusted to uphold the law, and to provide safety to our residents”, the statement said. “In this case unfortunately, it appears an officer violated that trust at every level”, he said.

“The video by nature is two dimensional so the problem is it distorts distances, and distances and depth perception are important”, he said. Smith’s attorneys applauded the decision. A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Zach Fardon said they would stay away from commenting on that.

Yesterday, a judge ruled dashcam video of the shooting should be released to the public. Authorities also said the Department of Justice has started a federal grand jury investigation.

Earlier Thursday, several activists began to cry inside the courtroom when the judge issued his ruling. According to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office, McDonald had PCP in his system at the time he was killed.

Herbert, Van Dyke’s attorney, would not speak with CNN about which authorities are investigating the shooting.

Dan Herbert says in this “day and age” there’s the possibility that someone could try to harm Officer Jason Van Dyke because they don’t understand the context in which the shooting occurred. “He knows in his heart of hearts that his actions were appropriate”.

The city has already reached a settlement with McDonald’s family, agreeing in April to pay $5 million, though the family had not filed a lawsuit.