Chicago officials release police reports showing officers’ accounts differ

Johnson’s case – and the video – is receiving renewed attention in the wake of the case of McDonald, a black teenager.

Chicago Police have released the complete police report documenting the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald on October 20, 2014.

The announcements came a week after the officer, Jason Van Dyke, was charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Laquan McDonald, who was shot 16 times.

The report said Van Dyke was aware of the widely accepted teaching that an assailant armed with a knife was considered a deadly threat if within 21 feet.

Van Dyke told an investigator that he feared that McDonald would rush him with the knife or launch it at him.

The reports also suggest a possible defense: a December 2012 bulletin from the department about a knife that shoots bullets.

“If the criminal investigation concludes that any officer participated in any wrongdoing, we will take swift action”, Guglielmi said.

In Seattle, nearly all police video is posted online almost immediately, though special software blurs the images and a video with clear images must be requested.

FOX 32 political editor Mike Flannery weighs in on why it took so long for Rauner to comment and the likelihood of Mayor Rahm Emanuel or State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez of resigning.

Illinois Attorney General LIsa Madigan is asking the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the Chicago Police Department.

– Charleston, South Carolina: In April, a bystander’s cellphone video prompted police in North Charleston, South Carolina, to release a dashcam video of white officer Michael Slager shooting Walter Scott, an unarmed black man. Slager has been charged with murder and is awaiting a trial date.

Officials had gathered video evidence on the night of the shooting from nearby businesses on the city’s south-west side, including a Burger King restaurant. Emanuel has also since announced the expansion a body camera program and formed a task force.

Chicago authorities have not been able to explain why the footage released to the public, including from other squad cars on scene, doesn’t have audio when department technologies allow for it. Acting Superintendent John Escalante said Friday that he issued a reminder to all officers to check that equipment works each time they get into police cars. “VD continued firing. O appeared to be attempting to get up, still holding the knife, pointing at VD”.

The reports are written in police shorthand, and refer to Van Dyke as VD – and call him a victim. He described how he eventually kicked the knife away from McDonald and then told the dying teenager “Hang in there” as an ambulance was called.

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

McDonald was being chased by police after reports he was burglarizing vehicles.

In a new report Saturday, the newspaper says it has seen hundreds of pages of newly released Chicago police reports.

One report said McDonald showed “irrational behavior”, such as ignoring verbal directions, “growling” and making noises. PCP, a hallucinogenic drug, was found in McDonald’s system, according to Alvarez and the medical examiner’s report that was among the documents.

The police reports are blacked out in places, with those redactions covering signatures, a reporter’s cell phone number, the serial number of the officer’s gun and McDonald’s address.