Four more Laquan McDonald police dashcam videos released

SHARE Four more Laquan McDonald police dashcam videos released

There were four additional police dashcam videos at the scene of Laquan McDonald’s shooting death last year, the city confirmed on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Chicago Police released a graphic video that captured the 16 shots fired by Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke, who was charged with first-degree murder in the 17-year-old boy’s death.

The four additional videos were released Tuesday to the first person who filed the Freedom of Information Act request, according to mayoral spokeswoman Kelley Quinn.

But the additional videos do not show the shooting. One, however, shows McDonald bleeding on the ground after being shot.

“The video that was released to the public [on Tuesday] was the most complete video that we had,” Quinn said.

Brandon Smith is the freelance journalist whose lawsuit pressed for the release of the video that showed the shooting. Smith, along with two other media organizations, also filed FOIA requests for the video of the shooting.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Chicago Supt. Garry McCarthy was asked why the video released to the media didn’t have audio. He said that it was either a technical issue or it just wasn’t turned on. He said sometimes officers “need to be disciplined if they don’t turn it on at the right circumstance.”

McCarthy said there was never audio for the shooting video.

“No, there was no audio with the tape that I saw, the video I saw. I don’t think that audio does exist,” McCarthy said Tuesday. “. . . There’s supposed to be , and it’s supposed to happen at a couple different instances.

Inspector General Joe Ferguson, in his audit plan for 2016 issued this week, said he plans to conduct an audit of CPD dashboard cameras to determine whether CPD is “effectively managing and maintaining” its dashboard cameras.

“OIG has been alerted to potential issues with CPD’s management of its dashboard cameras, including inoperable cameras, lack of routine maintenance and lack of proper footage archives,” he wrote.

Contributing: Fran Spielman

In the most graphic of the four additional videos (below), a police officer races to the scene. The officer runs red lights and bypasses vehicles to get to the call. The officer arrives after the shooting. Laquan McDonald is on the ground, with several pools of blood flowing from his body into the street.

In the video below, the view is from Officer Jason Van Dyke’s dashcam. McDonald is seen running in front of a Burger King. The squad car slowly drives next to him. At some point, shots are fired, but there is no audio to show when that happened. More police cars show up, and police officers stand near the area where McDonald was shot.

In the video below, an officer races to the scene after the shooting and stops near the Burger King. There are several squad cars, lights blaring ahead. There are no scenes of the shooting in this video.

This short dashcam video below is from after the shooting. A police squad is in front of the camera, and there are no views of the shooting.

The Latest
Over the course of just six fast-paced episodes, Esposito creates a memorable character in this crime drama based on the BBC One series “The Driver.”
Ald. Jeanette Taylor, chair of the City Council’s Education Committee chair, said she’s disappointed that Johnson and his allies in the Chicago Teachers Union backed away from the fully-elected, 21-member board he once supported. “This is not going to be as easy a transition as people think,” she said. “We’re used to a top-down system.”
Alex Caruso has been looking for a defensive showing like the one he and his teammates put on display in the win over the Pacers, but Caruso also knows it needs staying power. Could Javonte Green help that process moving forward?
Christian I. Soto, 22, was charged with murder, attempted murder and home invasion, officials announced Thursday. Rockford Police Chief Carla Redd said earlier investigators haven’t determined a motive for the attacks.
Can a message generated by an algorithm ever match hearing from a human?