Chicago Police Reports Offer Different Account From Dashcam Video

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Police Accounts, Video Don’t Match Up In Laquan McDonald Shooting

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In fact, the cover up itself makes the police officers involved, including the police chief, an "accessory after the fact" - a felony. Makes you wonder how many other police-involved murders they swept under the rug. Particularly disturbing, this police officer, Van Dyke, actually reloaded his weapon and continued shooting McDonald after he had been laying on the ground for 13 seconds. And his fellow officers who witnessed it apparently didn't give a **** since they actively covered it up like it was just another day at the office.

Laquan McDonald police reports differ dramatically from video, Chicago Tribune, 12/05/15

Hundreds of pages of newly released Chicago police reports from the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald are most striking for one simple reason: They are dramatically at odds with the dash-cam video that has sparked protests across the city, cost the city's top cop his job and embroiled Mayor Rahm Emanuel in scandal.

The reports, released by the city late Friday, show that Officer Jason Van Dyke and at least five other officers claim that the 17-year-old McDonald moved or turned threateningly toward officers, even though the video of the October 2014 shooting shows McDonald walking away, and the scenario sketched out by Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez in charging Van Dyke with murder contends he was walking away as well.

At least one patrol officer said McDonald was advancing on the officers in a menacing way and swung his knife at them in an "aggressive, exaggerated manner" before he was shot and killed. Officers claimed, too, that even after McDonald had been shot by Van Dyke, the teen tried to lift himself off the ground with the knife pointed toward the officers, and though he had been mortally wounded, still presented a threat.

The reports, a collection of handwritten statements from the night of the shooting, and follow-up reports in the days and months after, often refer to Van Dyke as VD and call him the victim. McDonald is O, for offender. Some are in police shorthand.

"VD believed O was attacking w/knife," said a report of Van Dyke's account. "Trying to kill VD. In defense of his life, VD backpedaled + fired. O fell to ground, continued to move/grasp knife. VD continued firing. O appeared to be attempting to get up, still holding knife. Pointing at VD."

The statements prompted police supervisors to rule McDonald's death a justifiable homicide just hours after he had been shot 16 times on South Pulaski Road and 41st Street.

With the video of the shooting as a backdrop, the reports — the first detailed accounts from the officers at the scene — offer a way to examine what Van Dyke and his colleagues say happened. Because they diverge so dramatically from the video, they suggest one possible avenue for additional investigation.

That video, which prompted the city to pay McDonald's family $5 million without it filing a wrongful death lawsuit, shows McDonald briskly walking down the middle of the street when Van Dyke fired from the teen's left side. In charging Van Dyke with first-degree murder, prosecutors said the officer opened fire six seconds after exiting his squad car, firing 16 rounds at McDonald in about 14 seconds as the teen was walking away, and was reloading when another officer told him to hold his fire. For 13 of those seconds, McDonald was already lying on the street, prosecutors said.

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. The autopsy on McDonald found that he had the drug PCP in his system.

The reports hint at how Van Dyke may try to defend his actions and explain a perceived threat. A day after the shooting, Van Dyke recalled a bulletin from the department that warned about knives that also shoot bullets. Included in the reports is a December 2012 bulletin about the knife, attributed to an unnamed "Midwest intelligence organization" that warned officers to "remain cognizant of its threat to personal safety."

Van Dyke also told an investigator that he was aware of the dangers of spring-loaded knives and was familiar with the so-called 21-foot-rule that suggests a suspect armed with an edged weapon can injure an officer from that distance.

Federal officials also are investigating the shooting. A federal grand jury investigation has involved more than 80 witnesses and branched into possible obstruction of justice by the officers at the scene, sources told the Tribune. In particular, the sources said, federal prosecutors are investigating the officers who made statements as well as the officers who prepared the reports of the statements.

Records show that a federal grand jury subpoenaed the Chicago Police Department for these same reports on Aug. 28.

Bringing charges against the officers for their statements could be difficult, however. Under federal case law, statements the officers were compelled to make as part of the Police Department's internal investigation cannot be used against them in any criminal prosecution.

The reports state investigators viewed the video and found them consistent with officers' accounts. The reports also note the 911 call after the shooting and radio transmissions from the scene "were consistent with the statements of the police officers."

The city has released information — including the video — in dribs and drabs, prolonging the scandal around McDonald's shooting. It was only after the video's release, in fact, that Emanuel fired police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, saying McCarthy had lost the public trust.

That shooting unfolded as Van Dyke and his partner responded to a radio call of a man who had popped a tire with a knife. It was 50 degrees outside on a clear night, and the busy commercial street was well-lit, according to the reports. As the partner, Joseph Walsh, drove their Chevrolet Tahoe police SUV west on 40th Street, they saw McDonald running through a Burger King parking lot, "knife in hand."

Van Dyke, according to the report, exited his vehicle and drew his handgun, then stood in the street, facing north, as McDonald came toward him with a knife in his hand. McDonald, the report states, was swinging the knife wildly.

"McDonald was holding the knife in his right hand, in an underhand grip, with the blade pointed forward," the report states. "He was swinging the knife in an aggressive, exaggerated manner."

According to Van Dyke's account, he repeatedly ordered McDonald to drop the knife, which he failed to do. McDonald advanced, Van Dyke said.

"When McDonald got within 10 to 15 feet of Officer Van Dyke, McDonald looked toward Van Dyke," the report states. "McDonald raised the knife across his chest and over shoulder, pointing the knife at Van Dyke."

Van Dyke then shot McDonald until his gun magazine was empty. No other officers fired their guns.