Chicago police fire four over alleged cover-up of Laquan McDonald shooting: reports

The Chicago Police Board on Thursday evening fired three officers and a sergeant for their roles in the alleged cover-up of the police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, according to reports.

Ex-Chicago officer Jason Van Dyke was sentenced in January to six years and nine months for McDonald’s murder in 2014, and the nine-member board reportedly found that officers Ricardo Viramontes and Janet Mondragon and Sgt. Stephen Franko had all made false statements exaggerating the threat McDonald posed. Officer Daphne Sebastian was accused of bringing discredit to the department, though she was not accused of making false statements, The Chicago Tribune reported.

{mosads}Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) fired the city’s police superintendent in late 2015 amid widespread outcry over the handling of the McDonald case following the release of dashboard video of the incident. Cook County’s top prosecutor was also voted out of office months later amid controversy over their defense of police actions in the case.

McDonald was high on PCP when he refused officers’ demands to drop a knife. He was shot 16 times after trying to walk away.