16 Reports Released On The Shooting Death Of Laquan McDonald
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A scathing set of reports on the shooting death of Laquan McDonald, kept under wraps for three years.
Until today.
Sixteen police reports, one for each officer accused in the cover-up.
CBS 2 Investigator Megan Hickey has been digging into why the Inspector General recommended that 12 of the Chicago police officers be fired for their actions.
Sixteen reports for 16 officers connected to the October 20, 2014 shooting. Ironically the same number of shots that killed 17-year-old burglary suspect Laquan McDonald.
They were fired by Officer Jason Van Dyke. Convicted of second-degree murder last year and sentenced to more than six years in prison.
The city of Chicago's Office of Inspector General, or OIG report authored in 2016, but released Wednesday, said he lied and dodged investigators from the OIG, failing to answer crucial questions.
It also thoroughly documents the ways that the OIG said Van Dyke's police officer colleagues lied for him, filed false reports, failed to activate cameras and even loaded the batteries in their microphones upside down.
CLICK HERE FOR A LINK TO ALL THE REPORTS RELEASED BY THE OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL
The OIG said their actions prevented CPD from collecting potentially important, objective evidence of the McDonald shooting. Leading to heightened public outrage.
The video evidence that does exist proved many statements wrong. Including the claim by several officers that McDonald was walking towards them when he was shot, when in fact he was walking away.
Several officers also falsely stated that they heard Van Dyke say "drop the knife."
So what happened to those recommendations?
In July, three Chicago police officers and a police sergeant were fired. Sgt. Stephen Franko, and officers Janet Mondragon, Daphne Sebastian and Ricardo Viramontes.
You'll remember that in January 2019, three current and former officers were acquitted of criminal charges.
They were officer Joseph Walsh, Officer Thomas Gaffney and ex-detective David March.
Other officers have retired or resigned. Of the remaining officers, CPD said Dora Fontaine is the only one still employed by the Chicago Police Department.
The CPD members who were fired this summer have filed lawsuits fighting their termination.
