Chicago police move to fire officers in Laquan McDonald shooting
CHICAGO — Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson has filed administrative charges seeking to fire Officer Jason Van Dyke and four other police officers involved in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, reports CBS Chicago.
The charges filed Tuesday with the Chicago Police Board, a civilian oversight committee, seek the dismissal of Van Dyke, Sgt. Stephen Franko, Officer Janet Mondragon, Officer Daphne Sebastian, and Officer Ricardo Viramontes.
A criminal charge of first-degree murder was filed in November against Van Dyke, who shot McDonald 16 times in October 2014. He has pleaded not guilty.
The administrative charges against him accuse him of violating six departmental rules, including making false or misleading statements about the shooting, failing to inspect his vehicle’s dashboard camera and audio recording equipment on the night of the shooting, and refusing to answer questions from the Chicago Inspector General’s office.
The other four officers also are accused of giving false or misleading statements about the circumstances of the shooting. Several officers’ accounts of the shooting seemed to contradict what was on video released of the incident and portrayed McDonald as more of a threat than he appeared to be in that footage.
In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, the Chicago Police Department said the decision to charge the officers came “after considerable deliberation and a methodical review of the evidence presented by the Office of Inspector General.”
The inspector general’s review of the shooting was presented to the department earlier this month and made recommendations for officer discipline.