CHICAGO (AP) — Audio recordings of radio calls between Chicago police and a dispatcher show at least one officer had requested a Taser before the fatal police shooting of a black teenager.
Seventeen-year-old Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times by one of several officers responding to a complaint about car break-ins in October 2014. The release of police dashcam video last month showing the shooting has set off weeks of protests. McDonald was carrying a knife, but appeared to be walking away from officers.
The dashcam recordings have no audio.
WMAQ-TV reports that it obtained audio of dispatch calls through a Freedom of Information Act Request.
It shows that at least one officer on the scene was looking for a non-lethal way of subduing the teen.
It remains unclear which officer requested the Taser or whether an officer with a stun gun arrived on the scene.
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