Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke has been formally indicted in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, whose death was captured in a widely viewed police dashcam that sent thousands of protesters marching down Chicago streets.
On Tuesday, a grand jury returned an indictment on six murder charges and one count of official misconduct, according to court records.
Van Dyke’s attorney, Daniel Herbert, said he had not heard about the indictment on Wednesday, but said “it would not come as a surprise.”
Van Dyke, 37, was released from the Cook County Jail on Nov. 30 after posting a $150,000 bond, 10 percent of a $1.5 million bail. Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder on Nov. 24, just hours before the video was released to the public.
The video — released 13 months after the shooting — shows McDonald running down the middle of Pulaski Road near 41st Street when Van Dyke opens fire, hitting the teen 16 times. Prosecutors said Van Dyke fired 16 shots in 14 to 15 seconds, and for all but one of two of those seconds, McDonald was already lying wounded on the pavement on Oct. 20, 2014.
Van Dyke started shooting his semi-automatic pistol at the teen just six seconds after he got out of the passenger side of the squad. None of the other seven police officers who were there had fired a shot, prosecutors said.
Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez said she timed the rare murder charge against an on-duty police officer before the court-ordered release of the video to the public. Alvarez said she hoped the charges would tamp down the public response to the graphic images.
As soon as the video was released, protesters took to the streets, shutting down major downtown intersections and demanding the resignations of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy and Alvarez and demanding to know why the video wasn’t released earlier.
Emanuel ousted both McCarthy and Scott Ando, head of the Independent Police Review Authority. The shooting also sparked an intensive investigation of the Chicago Police Department by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Van Dyke will next appear at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse on Friday.
