Police Reports Differ From Laquan McDonald Shooting Video

For them, Mayor Emanuel “demonstrated a willful ignorance when he talked about the murder charges against the police officer who shot Mr. McDonald, seeking to depict the cop as a rogue officer”.

This video, which garnered almost half a million views on social media, added further fuel to already simmering suspicions that police were covering something up, given Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder on November 24 – more than a year after the shooting.

The footage showed the teen veering away from officers when Van Dyke opened fire from close range and continued shooting after the teen had crumpled to the ground and was barely moving.

He noted that the video shows the events of that night from only one perspective, and that the officers arrived on the scene at different times.

Two officers backed Van Dyke’s story, as did Van Dyke’s partner, who said the only reason he didn’t shoot at McDonald himself was because Van Dyke was standing in his line of fire.

“VD believed O was attacking w/knife”, said a police report of Van Dyke’s account, as quoted by the Tribune.

Two policemen jump out of their vehicle in the center of the road and draw their weapons while advancing toward McDonald, who continues to move away.

Van Dyke told an investigator that he feared that McDonald would rush him with the knife or launch it at him. There are written reports from officers at the scene when Jason Van Dyke shot Laquan McDonald 16 times that don’t fit the dashcam video. He also said the department had recently issued a bulletin, warning officers that there are knives that can shoot bullets. The U.S. attorney’s office is investigating the issue, and a number of officials have called for a broader intervention by the U.S. Justice Department.

A protester heads north along North Michigan Avenue on Friday, Nov. 27, 2015, in Chicago, as community activists and labor leaders hold a demonstration billed as a “march for justice” in the wake of the release of video showing an officer fatally shooting Laquan McDonald. Emanuel says he strongly rejects the idea the release of squad-car video of the shooting was delayed because of his re-election campaign. He said the city was following a longstanding practice of releasing such material only after an investigation was complete.

Another case with striking similarities suggests a pattern of deception in the Chicago Police Department.

Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy claimed “technical difficulties” with the footage but in no way was anything tampered with.

Last month’s release of the dashboard video came under orders from a judge.

It’s unclear whether the newly released documents could lead to more officers being prosecuted.

The release of the reports Friday comes amid mounting questions about the Chicago Police Department’s handling of the incident.

“You’ve got police reports that say the guy lunged and a video that says that didn’t happen at all”, Turner said.

The embattled mayor has called for an independent review of the police department to determine whether there was any deliberate attempt to cover up the nature of the shooting. The authority has not released its report on the McDonald shooting. If the criminal investigation concludes that any officer participated in any wrongdoing, we will take swift action.

Three officers (Walsh, Daphne Sebastian and Janet Mondragon) corroborated Van Dyke’s claim that McDonald was waving the knife and approaching the officers.

Officer Jason Van Dyke responds to a call about a teenager breaking into cars and stealing radios.

In a scathing editorial on Tuesday, the New York Times wrote: “The cover-up that began 13 months ago when a Chicago police officer executed 17-year-old Laquan McDonald on a busy street might well have included highly ranked officials who ordered subordinates to hide information”.