Chicago cop charged in teen’s murder
Cook County prosecutors said only 30 seconds Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke was on the scene before he repeatedly opened fire on a knife-wielding African-American teenager who neither lunged toward Van Dyke nor uttered a word when he was asked to drop the weapon.
Sixteen shots in 14 to 15 seconds — and for all but one or two of those seconds, Laquan McDonald was already lying wounded on the pavement that night, Oct. 20, 2014.
Van Dyke started shooting his semi-automatic pistol at the 17-year-old just six seconds after he got out the passenger side of his squad car on Pulaski Road and 41st Street, Assistant State’s Attorney William Delaney said. Van Dyke was standing 10 feet away from McDonald.
None of the other seven police officers who were there had fired a shot, Delaney said.
Van Dyke, 37, stood rigid at attention in front of Judge Donald Panarese Jr. as prosecutors detailed the allegations leading to the first-degree murder charge.
State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez admitted she timed the rare charge against an on-duty police office before the court-ordered release of the video to the public. Chicago Police released the video (below).
Source Chicago Sun times
