Jason Van Dyke is a former American police officer who was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison in 2018 for the fatal shooting of African-American teenager Laquan McDonald.
Biography edit
Van Dyke joined the Chicago police department in 2000. Throughout his fourteen-year career, Van Dyke had around 20 complaints filed against him, including 10 for police brutality and one for using a racial slur; however none of these complaints resulted in action.[1]
Laquan McDonald shooting edit
At 10:00 pm on 20 October 2014, Van Dyke was one of the officers deployed to investigate reports that 17-year-old Laquan McDonald was walking around with a knife and breaking into vehicles. When officers confronted McDonald, he slashed the tire of a police car before attempting to walk away. Van Dyke responded by shooting McDonald, who was facing away from him, in the back. As McDonald lay on the ground Van Dyke shot him 15 more times.[2] McDonald was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Investigation edit
McDonald's death was initially ruled a justified shooting due to the police report falsely stating that McDonald lunged towards the officers before being shot just once by Van Dyke.[3] However, the death was later ruled a homicide after McDonald's autopsy determined that he was shot 16 times.[4]
The investigation into McDonald's shooting was stalled considerably by multiple factors, including dashcam footage of the incident being concealed by the police[5] and CCTV footage from a nearby Burger King mysteriously disappearing.[6] A court eventually ordered the police to release the footage on 24 November 2015, thirteen months later. The footage clearly showed Van Dyke shooting McDonald once in the back and then 15 more times while he lay prone on the ground. The same day, Van Dyke was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.[7]
Van Dyke's trial began on 17 September 2017 after protracted legal arguments. He was ultimately convicted of second-degree rather than first-degree murder on 5 October 2018 and received a sentence of 6.5 years in prison.[8] He was released from prison on February 17, 2022, having served a little over three years.[9]
References edit
- ↑ Complaints Against Police Officer Jason Van Dyke, The New York Times
- ↑ Laquan McDonald: How a Chicago teenager was shot dead by police, BBC News
- ↑ Chicago Police Really Didn't Want To Release Video Of A Cop Shooting Laquan McDonald 16 Times, The Huffington Post
- ↑ FBI investigating death of teen shot 16 times by Chicago cop, Chicago Tribune
- ↑ Chicago Police Hid Mics, Destroyed Dashcams To Block Audio, Records Show, DNAinfo Chicago
- ↑ Burger King manager believes Chicago cops deleted surveillance footage after Laquan McDonald shooting, NY Daily News
- ↑ Laquan McDonald video: Shot teen spins, falls to ground, CNN
- ↑ Van Dyke's Controversial 'nearly seven year' sentence explained, Chicago Tribune
- ↑ Ex-Chicago Cop Jason Van Dyke Has Been Released from Custody after Serving 3 1/4 Years for the Murder of Laquan McDonald, Chicago Tribune