CHICAGO (AP) — The release of squad-car video showing a white Chicago police officer shooting a black teenager 16 times set off a dramatic chain of events, from days of demonstrations to Mayor Rahm Emanuel's firing of the city's police superintendent.
Activists contend city and police department officials dragged their feet on the investigation and video release and perhaps even sought to cover up what happened.
The video footage of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald's fatal shooting the night of Oct. 20, 2014, contradicts initial accounts police officials gave.
Pat Camden, at the time a police union spokesman, described McDonald lunging at officers before shooting began, while a police statement just after the shooting said McDonald had refused to drop a knife and "continued to approach the officers."
Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez, who approved the murder charge against Van Dyke, said that forensic testing was done on the Burger King video as part of the investigation, and that no tampering was found.
In a statement, a spokesman for the independent police review board also said it had "no credible evidence at this time that would cause us to believe CPD purged or erased any surveillance video."
Another possibility is that prosecutors are looking into whether to charge Van Dyke with violating McDonald's civil rights.
Because the shooting resulted in the teen's death, Van Dyke could face a maximum life sentence if convicted of such a federal charge.
