The FBI is launching a criminal probe into the events leading up to the death of a 17-year-old at the hands of the Chicago police.
The teenager, Laquan McDonald, had a knife, and officers had been tracking him for some time since he was allegedly trying to break into cars in a truck yard.
The officers, who were waiting for backup to arrive with Tasers, were trying to corral McDonald, who was uncooperative, away from passersby when two more officers arrived and jumped out of their car with guns drawn. One officer fired and shot McDonald 16 times.
The incident was captured on the dash cam of a different squad car.
Corporation Counsel Stephen Patton said that they would be reviewing the footage of the dashboard camera. According to a spokesman for the Fraternal Order of Police, McDonald had lunged at officers with the knife. However, Patton acknowledged that McDonald’s family’s lawyers would point out that none of the other five officers fired. The family also has insisted “very vehemently” that the video footage showed McDonald was moving away from, not toward, officers prior to the shooting.
The identity of the officer has not been disclosed as part of the city’s collective bargaining agreement, which states that the name cannot be released until he is identified in a proceeding, criminal or otherwise.
Coverage of the story below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZtnOue3I8M