30, 2016, to fire Van Dyke along with four other CPD officers who were at the scene of the shooting. The motion will go through the city’s police board.
Advertisement
CHICAGO The chief of Chicago’s police department recommended on Tuesday that five officers be fired over their role in the 2014 shooting death of an black teenager, an incident that heaped national scrutiny on the nation’s second largest police force.
The charging documents slammed the five officers for lying about McDonald’s death, claiming the 17-year-old had a knife in his hand and was attacking police before he was killed on October 20, 2014.
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson filed administrative charges on Tuesday, 22 months after officer Jason Van Dyke shot the teen 16 times.
Sebastian and Mondragon tried backing up Van Dyke’s lie that the officer yelled at McDonald to drop his knife, according to the documents. All of the officers named but Viramontes face similar allegations. Of those 10, three have retired in the last two weeks, according to department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi, who said he could not give the ranks or names of the officers who have left the department.
The inspector general’s review of the shooting was presented to the department earlier this month and made recommendations for officer discipline.
The footage released late previous year came mostly without audio, and several of the officers are accused of failing to properly use their in-car video and audio systems. The same day the video of Van Dyke firing 16 rounds at the teenager was made public, the officer was charged with murder. He has pleaded not guilty to six counts of first-degree murder.
The shooting deaths of African-American men in other USA cities have sparked federal inquiries into police use of deadly force nationwide. Four of the officers face additional misconduct charges for their handling of police dashboard cameras. These probes often result in court-enforced orders mandating changes at departments. And with the video being released a full year after the initial shooting, many seemed to be outraged by the mistrust.
Sebastian and Mondragon reported that Van Dyke and Walsh repeatedly ordered McDonald to drop the knife.
Advertisement
“The public is reminded that the filing of charges is not evidence of guilt”. A video, though, showed Van Dyke firing on McDonald within seconds of jumping out of his vehicle as the teenagers appeared to walk away.
