Chicago police reports contradict footage of Laquan McDonald shooting

The Chicago Police Department released documents late Friday evening from the investigation of the police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, which reveal drastic differences in what officers said took place during the shooting compared to what is actually seen in video footage.

Chicago police have released the complete 395-page police report documenting the fatal police shooting of Laquan McDonald on October 20, 2014, NBC Chicago reported. “In defense of his life”, Van Dyke “back-pedaled and fired his handgun at McDonald to stop the attack”.

In one case, a report filed by a detective summarizes information obtained from Jason Van Dyke, the officer now charged with murder in the death of McDonald, as well as Van Dyke’s partner, identified in the report as Joseph Walsh, and several other officers at the scene. He was aware of the teaching that an assailant armed with a knife was considered a deadly threat if within 21 feet.

The city only released the dashcam video last month after a judge ordered it should be made public.

Mr Primeau also said that the gunshots sounded more like synthesized drums than the 9mm pistol that Van Dyke used.

“McDonald fell to the ground but continued to move and continued to grasp the knife, refusing to let go of it”, states the police report.

This story has been corrected to fix reference to Van Dyke from McDonald in 7th paragraph. The accused officer also said the teen “raised the knife across chest”, which does not appear to be the case in the video.

The video did not show McDonald lunging toward officers as some of them claimed, although there appears to be a silver object in McDonald’s right hand. What could cause a police officer to value a life so little that he would murder a teenager who was simply walking past him?

In the video, Van Dyke begins firing at McDonald within about 30 seconds of arriving on the scene, near Pulaski Road and 41st Street – though the other officers already on the scene did not fire. He and a number of aldermen have said they relied on the city attorney, who did view the video, when they signed off earlier this year on a $5 million settlement with McDonald’s family even before the family filed a lawsuit.

Federal officials with the Justice Department have been called in to investigate the shooting itself and the subsequent investigation, according to a law enforcement source. The details emerged in hundreds of pages of handwritten and typed reports that prompted supervisors to rule McDonald’s death a justifiable homicide hours after he was shot.

The Chicago Police Department said the Independent Police Review Authority is conducting the investigation into McDonald’s killing.

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

The point of the protest, says Jackson, is the cover-up.

The Chicago mayor ousted police chief McCarthy after a public outcry over the handling of the case – just days after he insisted to reporters that the mayor had his “back”. “He was swinging the knife in an aggressive, exaggerated manner”.

One of the reports noted what it called McDonald’s “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. But, in another contradiction, one of the police reports said the recovered knife’s “blade was in the open position”.