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Van Dyke was a relief officer who worked a part-time job at Walmart before coming into work on Oct. 20, 2014, the night he murdered McDonald, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Witnesses called 911 to report someone breaking into trucks on the southwest side of Chicago, and they later told officers the suspect, later identified as McDonald, swung a knife at them when they confronted him. Van Dyke and the officer he was partnered with, 16-year veteran Joseph Walsh, weren’t the first to arrive on the scene. Officers Thomas Gaffney and Joseph McElligott, who talked to witnesses and got the direction McDonald was heading in, were dispatched at 9:47 p.m., the Tribune reported.
It took Gaffney and McElligott about five minutes to catch up to McDonald, give him his first commands, and start the first of several chases to catch the teen. McElligott told McDonald to “stop, turn around and take his hands out of his pockets,” the Tribune reported. The teen turned and took his hands out of his pockets, revealing a knife he was holding as he walked away. McElligott pulled his gun at that point and ordered McDonald to drop the knife. McDonald didn’t relinquish the weapon, and ended up puncturing the officers’ front tire with it, which was communicated on a police radio.
Walsh and Van Dyke radioed in to respond: ”45 Robert. We’re about two blocks away.”
Warning: This dash-cam video depicts Van Dyke shooting McDonald and may be triggering for some viewers.
When their SUV caught up to McDonald, Van Dyke and Walsh got out of the police vehicle and took slow steps toward the teen. They were on the opposite side of the street from McDonald when Van Dyke, the only officer to shoot at McDonald, fired his weapon.
McDonald fell to the ground instantly, but Van Dyke kept shooting. It took 13 seconds for Van Dyke to stop shooting, the Tribune reported. When he did, an officer kicked the knife out of McDonald’s hand. Several officers were on the scene at the time, and none of them tried to help McDonald, the Tribune reported. He was taken by ambulance to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Van Dyke was convicted on a charge of second-degree murder, as well as 16 counts of aggravated battery, on Oct. 5, 2018.
Will Calloway, an activist who advocated for the release of a dash-cam video of the shooting, has a “day of outrage” scheduled on Chicago’s Federal Plaza the day of Van Dyke’s planned release, Chicago’s WGN 9 reported.
“That’s not fair, that’s not just,” Calloway told the news station. “This man and Dr. King have led the way for us to do it peaceably but I’m here to stir the pot and say peaceably by any means necessary.”
Activists are also calling for a Chicago Transit Authority shutdown. “We are asking Local 241 and Local 308 to stand with us in solidarity,” Calloway said. “That no buses and no trains shall move throughout the city of Chicago as long as Jason Van Dyke is not federally charged.”
RELATED: Chicago cop who shot Laquan McDonald 16 times convicted on 17 counts, including murder
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