CHICAGO _ Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson has filed administrative charges seeking to fire five officers involved in the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald in October 2014.
The charges, filed Tuesday with the Chicago Police Board, seek the dismissal of Officer Jason Van Dyke, who shot McDonald 16 times, as well as four officers who gave reports contradicted by video of the shooting, suggesting an attempted cover-up.
In addition to Van Dyke, Officers Janet Mondragon, Daphne Sebastian and Ricardo Viramontes as well as Sgt. Stephen Franko face potential firing by the board.
Cook County prosecutors have also criminally charged Van Dyke with first-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
The move to fire the officers comes on the heels of a report from Chicago Inspector General Joseph Ferguson, who recommended the discipline. Ferguson had recommended firing 10 officers, according to Johnson, but two have retired, and Johnson said he didn't agree with the recommendation to fire one other officer. A source said Van Dyke's partner, Joseph Walsh, was also among the officers Ferguson called for firing, but he has since resigned.
The status of the 10th officer Ferguson called for firing was not immediately clear Tuesday.
Beyond the moves to fire officers, several high-ranking officers who were involved in the McDonald case have retired recently. David McNaughton, the deputy chief who ruled Van Dyke's shooting complied with department policy, retired in recent weeks. Also, Lt. Anthony Wojcik, who was involved in the department's investigation into the shooting, retired in May. No official or records have linked those retirements to the investigation into the McDonald case.
The move to fire the five officers doesn't promise a quick end to the scandal stemming from the department's response to McDonald's shooting. Cases can remain before the Chicago Police Board for months, and the board's decisions are not always the final word, as officers commonly challenge their firings in court.
The proposed discipline represents the latest consequence of a shooting that has driven political upheaval and changes to policing in the city.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration worked for months to avoid putting out the video of McDonald's shooting, but a judge forced its release late last year. The footage of the white Van Dyke shooting the African-American teenager repeatedly as he lay motionless on the pavement sparked heated street protests fueled by long-standing grievances with the police among many black Chicagoans.
As the scandal deepened, the U.S. Justice Department announced an investigation into whether Chicago police have systematically violated citizens' rights, and Emanuel has announced a slate of changes designed to blunt the impact of reforms federal authorities could seek to enforce.
The widely distrusted city agency that usually investigates police shootings _ the Independent Police Review Authority _ referred the inquiry to Ferguson's office.
The conduct of the officers who face potential firing is also under scrutiny from a special Cook County prosecutor appointed to determine whether their actions warrant further criminal charges. The U.S. attorney's office in Chicago had also been investigating the shooting.
Before the McDonald video touched off a political crisis, the city had only rarely accused officers of filing false reports. But the video of McDonald's shooting directly contradicted the accounts of both Van Dyke and other police on the scene.
Van Dyke stated in reports that he fired his weapon in fear for his life when McDonald advanced on him with a knife. On the video, however, Van Dyke can be seen jumping from his car and opening fire within seconds as McDonald appears to walk away from him.
Van Dyke's account was echoed by several other officers who filed reports that described McDonald as attacking him with the knife and trying to kill him. One said the teen waved the knife and raised his right arm toward Van Dyke.
According to police reports on the incident, Walsh said he "believed McDonald was attacking Walsh and Officer Van Dyke with the knife and attempting to kill them when the shots were fired."
Two other officers who responded, Sebastian and Mondragon, reported that Van Dyke and Walsh repeatedly ordered McDonald to drop the knife as he waved a blade while approaching the two officers.
Viramontes wrote that McDonald turned toward Van Dyke and Walsh after they told the teen to drop the knife. After Van Dyke shot McDonald, the teen fell to the street but continued to move, trying to get back up with the knife, according to Viramontes' account in the reports.
Another report shows that hours after the shooting, McNaughton, who was designated as the incident commander that night, made a preliminary determination that Van Dyke fired his weapon in compliance with Police Department policy.
"Based upon information available at the time of this report it is the preliminary determination of the undersigned that Officer Van Dyke fired his weapon in compliance with Department policy. Officer Van Dyke fired his weapon in fear of his life when the offender while armed with a knife continued to approach and refused all verbal direction," McNaughton stated in the report.
In December 2014, the department officially recorded the shooting as a justifiable homicide.
