Chicago police reports depict different narrative of shooting death of black teen

Michael Oppenheimer, an attorney for the mother of Johnson, says he got out and ran, but was chased down by officers and shot.

Emanuel said the city would release police squad vehicle dashboard video of the shooting of 25-year-old Ronald Johnson III, who was killed by police on October 12, 2014, a week before the shooting death of Laquan McDonald, 17.

The Chicago Tribune (http://trib.in/1TqYWPD ) reports hundreds of pages released late Friday show at least five officers saying Laquan McDonald moved toward officers.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is denying there was a cover-up in last year’s shooting of a black teenager 16 times by a white police officer.

The officers’ portrayal of the incident, recorded in hundreds of pages of handwritten and typed reports, prompted police supervisors to rule at the time that McDonald’s death was a justifiable homicide and within the bounds of the department’s use of force guidelines.

Protests followed the charging and arrest of Van Dyke and the release of the video on November 24.

CHICAGO (AP) – Chicago officials have released police reports in the shooting death of a black teenager by a white police officer revealing a narrative that contradicts what video footage depicts.

According to the Chicago police, an independent police body conducts all investigations of officer-involved shootings.

Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy was sacked and Escalante has taken over in the interim.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, Cook County Commissioners Jesus “Chuy” Garcia and Richard Boykin and others demanded a sweeping investigation that would include the mayor’s office as well as that of Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, in the wake of the Laquan McDonald shooting. “VD continued firing. O appeared to be attempting to get up, still holding the knife, pointing at VD”.

“If the criminal investigation concludes that any officer participated in any wrongdoing, we will take swift action”, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement. Police argued that releasing the video would jeopardize the officer’s right to a fair trial. The judge rejected the city’s contention, made before Van Dyke was charged, that releasing the video could lead to an unfair trial “in the court of public opinion”.

Another contradiction that emerged with the release of the reports is whether McDonald’s knife was folded when officers recovered it at the scene.

The release of the footage, which doesn’t have sound, triggered protests and calls for public officials, including Emanuel, to resign.

Emanuel said the new task force, which will be advised by former Massachusetts Governor and Chicago native Deval Patrick, will review the system of accountability, oversight and training in the police department.

But Chicago police and Cook County prosecutors still say that there’s no evidence the Burger King footage was tampered with, despite the suspicious gap.