CHICAGO, Nov. 24 (UPI) ─ Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder on Tuesday for the 2014 fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.
Van Dyke, 37, was seen in a squad car dashcam video shooting the African-American teenager 16 times. A Chicago court will release the dashcam video on Wednesday, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
The first-degree murder charge marks the first time in Chicago history that an officer on duty has been charged with such a crime. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has called the shooting death “hideous” and said it had “no justification.”
Emanuel has called for peace ahead of the release of the dashcam video, which some anticipate could lead to protests.
The FBI previously launched its own investigation into the shooting death of McDonald. The Chicago City Council agreed to a $5 million settlement with McDonald’s family earlier this year.
McDonald was shot and killed on Oct. 20, 2014, after police were called to a trucking yard to investigate a spate of attempted car burglaries. Police found McDonald about two blocks from the trucking yard with a 4-inch knife in hand.
Officers attempted to surround McDonald but he slashed one of the tires of a squad car and began jogging away. Van Dyke arrived, exited his car with his gun drawn and opened fire — hitting McDonald 16 times and killing him, according to reports.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office found McDonald had wounds to his chest, neck, back, arms and right leg. An autopsy later revealed McDonald had PCP in his body. There were several officers on the scene, but only Van Dyke opened fire.
Van Dyke, a 14-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department, was stripped of his police powers and placed on desk duty after the incident.
Community leaders fear the release of the dashcam video may incite further anger and lead to potentially dangerous protests. A group that included ministers and business leaders met with Emanuel on Monday to discuss how to handle public reaction.
“I’ve been to Ferguson. I’ve been to Baltimore. I’ve seen the riots and I know that the potential that it has here in Chicago to be more harming than Ferguson and Baltimore,” Rev. Corey Brooks, of New Beginnings Church in Chicago’s South Side,WLS-TV Chicago reports.
