Family of slain Chicago teen LaQuan McDonald receives $5M settlement, six officers involved
theGRIO REPORT - The settlement agreement in the case of a Chicago teen shot 16 times by an officer has been released following a Freedom of Information Act request.
The settlement agreement in the case of a Chicago teen shot 16 times by an officer has been released following a Freedom of Information Act request.
According to NBC Chicago, the $5 million settlement names two officers, two detectives, one sergeant and one lieutenant.
The family of LaQuan McDonald agreed to the settlement in April. Since then, Chicago police have maintained that they are continuing to cooperate with the ongoing investigation of the incident.
Watch a full report on the investigation of LaQuan McDonald’s death below:
The shooting occurred back in October, when one officer shot the 17-year-old a total of 16 times. Nine of those shots hit McDonald in either the back or the back of his arms and hands.
Although officers say that McDonald had a knife and posed a “very serious threat,” family members maintain that McDonald was walking away from the officers when the shooting occurred and was shot while he was on the ground.
“You can see in the video as he is lying on the ground, that he is being shot […],” said the family’s attorney Michael Robbins.
The agreement also named other police officers beyond just the one behind the trigger. Although they did not respond with deadly force, they did not come forward with the truth.
“Once an officer commits a fatal shooting,” co-counsel Jeff Neslund said. “They start to circle the wagons, and cover-up is what it is — code of silence, the blue wall — lets try to justify this thing.”
