3 Chicago cops charged with conspiracy, obstruction in Laquan McDonald shooting

Aamer Madhani | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Three Chicago cops indicted over Laquan McDonald shooting Three Chicago police officers were indicted on felony charges that they conspired to cover actions by a white police officer who shot and killed 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.

Three current or former Chicago Police officers have been indicted on state charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and misconduct for allegedly trying to "conceal the true facts" in the fatal police-involved shooting death of Laquan McDonald, prosecutors announced Tuesday.

A Cook County special grand jury filed the charges against Detective David March and patrol officers Joseph Walsh and Thomas Gaffney for actions they took in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of 17-year-old McDonald in 2014. McDonald's controversial death led to first-degree murder charges against officer Jason Van Dyke.

“The indictment makes clear that these defendants did more than merely obey an unofficial ‘code of silence,’ rather it alleges that they lied about what occurred to prevent independent criminal investigators from learning the truth,” said Patricia Brown Holmes, the Cook County special prosecutor who has been probing a possible coverup by officers at the scene.

Van Dyke was charged with murder in November 2015 on the same day the city of Chicago released chilling dashcam video that showed the officer firing 16 shots at McDonald, who was armed with a small knife and appeared to be running away from police. He has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.

Raw: Dashcam video shows Chicago officer shooting teen Chicago police released a dashcam video Nov. 24, 2015, that shows the shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, who was killed by an officer in October 2014. The officer, Jason Van Dyke, has been charged with first-degree murder.

A grand jury had been weighing for months whether some of Van Dyke’s fellow officers at the scene of the shooting should also face charges. Several officers at the scene told investigators after the shooting that McDonald ignored repeated calls from Van Dyke to drop the knife, putting the officers in danger.

The video footage appears to show that Van Dyke began firing immediately after getting out of his vehicle and continued to fire even after the teen fell to the pavement.

The officers lied about what occurred and mischaracterized the video recordings in the hopes that independent investigators wouldn’t learn what happened and the public would not see the video footage caught on the dashcam, according to the indictment. March signed off on the statements that several officers at the scene gave following the shooting and indicated there were no discrepancies between what the officers said happened and police dashcam video.

The officers named in the indictment — as well as someone identified as Individual A — coordinated their stories to protect each other and allegedly made false police reports, failed to report or correct false information, ignored contrary information or evidence, obstructed justice and failed to perform mandatory duty, the indictment alleges.

They are also alleged to have submitted, reviewed or approved various police department reports that falsely portrayed Individual A, Walsh and Gaffney as having been assaulted and battered by McDonald, the special prosecutor said.

In a subsequent report, Gaffney, Walsh, Individual A and an officer identified as Individual H were identified as victims of McDonald. That report was submitted to independent investigators by March and two other officers identified as Individual B and Individual E. Further, the officers failed to locate and interview three witnesses whose information was inconsistent with police accounts of what led to the shooting, according to the indictment.

Both March and Walsh have left the police department since the incident. Gaffney was suspended following the announcement of the indictment, said Anthony Guglielmi, a police department spokesman.

Holmes declined to say what, if any, cooperation she had received from officers at the scene. She also underscored that the prosecution of the alleged coverup is being pursued separately from the Van Dyke's prosecution for murder charges.

"Officer Van Dyke's case is a totally separate case from this case," she said. "This grand jury investigation is a totally separate grand jury investigation from Officer Van Dyke's case. This case stands alone."

Walsh, who was Van Dyke's partner on the night of the shooting, said that he "backed up" as McDonald got to within 12 to 15 feet of the officers and "swung the knife toward the officers in an aggressive manner," according to police statements released by the police department last month.

Walsh said he and Van Dyke repeatedly called on McDonald, who police said had been breaking into vehicles in the area just before the incident, to drop the knife.

After Van Dyke unloaded his weapon, Walsh approached McDonald and kicked away a knife the teen was holding in his hand. The footage does not show the teen swinging the knife at the police officers.

The three officers are scheduled to be arraigned on July 10. The official misconduct charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $25,000 fine, while the obstruction of justice charge is punishable by three years in prison and $25,000 fine. The conspiracy charges is punishable by a fine and prison sentence that does not exceed the underlying offense.

Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson, who last year recommended the firing of seven officers for making false reports about the McDonald shooting, said in a statement that the department "has fully cooperated with prosecutors and will continue to do so."

Follow USA TODAY Chicago correspondent Aamer Madhani on Twitter: @AamerISmad