Chicago officers’ reports differ from video

CHICAGO — It’s unclear whether newly released documents detailing Chicago police officers’ initial reports on the death of a teenager shot by a fellow officer will lead to more lawmen being prosecuted.

Colleagues who watched white police officer Jason Van Dyke shoot Laquan McDonald, a black 17-year-old, 16 times filed reports depicting a different version of events from what dashboard camera footage showed, portraying the teen as far more menacing than he appeared in the video.

The city released hundreds of pages of documents late Friday pertaining to the October 2014 killing of McDonald. Van Dyke was charged with first- degree murder last month, only hours before the department released the video under a court order, sparking protests and accusations of a cover-up.

The officers would have Fifth Amendment protection for anything they said during an internal investigation, but their initial police reports could be used in an obstruction-of-justice case against them, said Phil Turner, a former federal prosecutor in Chicago.

“You’ve got police reports that say the guy lunged and a video that says that didn’t happen at all,” Turner said.

Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the city’s Independent Police Review Authority, not the police department, conducts investigations of officer-involved shootings, and the agency was given all evidence from the scene. The authority has not released its report on McDonald’s death.

“If the criminal investigation concludes that any officer participated in any wrongdoing, we will take swift action,” Guglielmi said.

Video of McDonald’s death, which the city kept from the public for more than a year, shows him veering away from officers on a four- lane street when Van Dyke, seconds after exiting his squad car, opens fire from close range. The officer continues shooting after McDonald crumples to the ground and is barely moving. The video does not include sound, which authorities have not explained.

In the newly released police reports, several officers including Van Dyke and his partner described McDonald as aggressively approaching officers while armed with a knife. At least three other officers, including his partner, supported key details in Van Dyke’s portrayal of events.

The off icers’ version prompted police supervisors to rule at the time that McDonald’s death was a justifiable homicide and within the use of force guidelines, even though the dashcam video also was available to them shortly after the shooting.

Van Dyke told an investigator McDonald was “swinging the knife in an aggressive, exaggerated manner” and “raised the knife across the chest” and pointed it at Van Dyke, according to one report. Multiple officers reported that even after McDonald was down, he kept trying to rise while holding the knife.

“In defense of his life, Van Dyke backpedaled and fired his handgun at McDonald, to stop the attack,” one report reads. “McDonald fell to the ground but continued to move and continued to grasp the knife, refusing to let go of it.”

Van Dyke told an investigator he feared McDonald would rush him with the knife or launch it at him. He also noted a 2012 Chicago Police Department warning about a knife capable of firing a bullet, according to the reports. The reports included a copy of the warning issued by an unidentified “Midwest intelligence organization” that was circulated to officers.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson said the documents show police “misrepresenting” what happened and called for an escalation of protests today in the city’s business district.

Requests for comment to representatives for Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez and the police review authority weren’t immediately returned.

Van Dyke’s partner, identified as Joseph Walsh, told an investigator that he repeatedly yelled “Drop the knife!” at McDonald and backed up as the teenager “continued to advance toward the officers.” He said McDonald “swung the knife toward the officers in an aggressive manner” before Van Dyke shot him and that he believed McDonald was “attempting to kill them.”

Walsh said McDonald attempted to get up after falling, “while still armed with the knife.” He said he eventually kicked the knife away from McDonald and then told the dying teenager “Hang in there” as an ambulance was called.

The police reports refer to McDonald as the “offender” and Van Dyke and other officers as “victims.”

Redactions in the police reports cover signatures, a reporter’s cellphone number, the serial number of the officer’s gun and McDonald’s address.