Chicago cop: Video of shooting 'doesn't show my perspective' [View all]
Source: Associated Press
Don Babwin, Associated Press
Updated 9:32 pm CDT, Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Photo: Antonio Perez, AP
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Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke dabs his eyes as he testifies in his murder trial Tuesday Oct. 2, 2018, in Chicago, for the shooting death of Laquan McDonald. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool)
CHICAGO (AP) — A white Chicago police officer charged with murder in the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald testified Tuesday that he opened fire when the black teenager kept advancing toward him while waving a knife, adamantly sticking to his version of events even when confronted with video that showed a different scene.
In a clear but sometimes halting voice, at times fighting back tears, Officer Jason Van Dyke described arriving in his police SUV to find McDonald in a city street, carrying a small knife that the 17-year-old had previously used to puncture the tire of a squad car after officers responded to a report of someone breaking into vehicles. Van Dyke later turned defiant under questioning by prosecutors who pointed out that video of the Oct. 20, 2014 , shooting didn't match his account, telling jurors: "The video doesn't show my perspective."
The video shows Van Dyke exit his vehicle and start firing even as McDonald appears to veer away from police. After the bullets start, McDonald spins and falls to the ground. Van Dyke continues firing, shooting a total of 16 shots. About 10 other officers were on the scene, and prosecutors have stressed that none of them — including Van Dyke's partner — opened fire.
Van Dyke described McDonald as being "without expression," his eyes "bugging out of his head" and looking "right through me." He said McDonald was getting closer to him and was ignoring repeated commands to drop the knife. An autopsy shows McDonald had the hallucinogenic drug PCP in his system.
Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Chicago-officer-s-trial-to-resume-after-13273936.php
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