Chicago releases audio from Laquan McDonald shooting


"This guy, ah, kind of walking away, he has a knife in his hand."
That's how a Chicago police officer calmly described 17-year-old Laquan McDonald over radio before the teen was shot and killed by officer Jason Van Dyke, who is now being charged with first-degree murder for McDonald's death. The city of Chicago provided audio from the incident, which took place on Oct. 20, 2014, for the first time Wednesday.
In the recordings, a police dispatcher can be heard asking for a Taser-equipped squad car to head to the scene in response to the first officer's request and statement that McDonald was carrying a knife. A call then confirms responding officers are two blocks away, and the dispatcher asks the responding officers to "let me know when he's in custody." Mere moments later, an officer yells through the radio, "Shots fired by police."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The recordings are partially redacted, but the Chicago Tribune breaks down the whole thing here.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kimberly Alters is the news editor at TheWeek.com. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
-
How will Labour pay for welfare U-turn?
Today's Big Question A dramatic concession to Labour rebels has left the government facing more fiscal dilemmas
-
Easy listening: the best audiobooks
The Week Recommends Swap hefty hardbacks for hands-free reading this summer
-
Sharenting: does covering children's faces on social media protect them?
In The Spotlight Privacy trend has 'trickled down' from celebrity parents but it may not protect your kids
-
Sniper kills 2 Idaho firefighters in ambush
Speed Read A man started a wildfire, then fired a rifle at first responders when they arrived
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrial
Speed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside home
speed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confession
speed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
-
Assailant burns Jewish pedestrians in Boulder
speed read Eight people from the Jewish group were hospitalized after a man threw Molotov cocktails in a 'targeted act of violence'
-
Driver rams van into crowd at Liverpool FC parade
speed read 27 people were hospitalized following the attack
-
2 Israel Embassy staff shot dead at DC Jewish museum
speed read The suspected gunman chanted 'free, free Palestine'
-
Bombing of fertility clinic blamed on 'antinatalist'
speed read A car bombing injured four people and damaged a fertility clinic and nearby buildings in Palm Springs, California