Transcript for Jubilation after white Chicago officer found guilty in black teen’s death
To tonight’s other breaking headline. Authorities on alert following the verdict of a police officer in Chicago. Found guilty. He had testified in his own defense, claiming he feared for his life. Tonight, what the jurors thought of that defense. Here’s Alex Perez. Reporter: With a city on edge, the jury taking less than ten hours to reach that verdict. We the jury find the defendant, Jason Van Dyke, guilty. Reporter: Jason Van Dyke showing little emotion as jurors found him guilty of second degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery. One for each shot in the 2014 killing of 17-year-old laquan McDonald. The judge revoking the bond for the former police officer turned convicted felon, now booked in jail. And outside, jubilation as the decision was read. McDonald’s family saying justice was served. The white officer shooting the black teenager 16 times as he walked down a Chicago street carrying a three-inch knife. The shooting, captured on police dash cam, sparked monthslong protests when it was released. Some violent. Today, more than 12,000 Chicago officers placed on alert, bracing for demonstrations. On the witness stand, Van Dyke, who was responding to a call of someone breaking into cars, testified he believed McDonald was lunging at him and refused commands to drop the knife. I was yelling at him, drop the knife. I yelled, I don’t know how many times. Reporter: But in the video, McDonald, who was high on pcp, appears to be walking away from Van Dyke when he is shot. Prosecutors telling the jury the shooting was unjustified. There’s no justification for shooting laquan McDonald that night. Not one shot, not the first shot, not the 16th shot. Reporter: But defense attorneys arguing the video was “Essentially meaningless” because it didn’t capture the incident from Van Dyke’s point of view. But the jury disagreeing and tonight, some explaining why. He should have realized what the situation was and instead of escalating the situation, should have looked at other options. Let’s bring in Alex Perez live. The legal team said something else, they call this a relief? Reporter: Yeah, that’s right. The defense calling this a relief because had he been convicted of first degree murder, he could have faced a life sentence. Still, he’s looking at possibly decades behind bars. His attorneys plan to appeal the decision. Thank you. And now to new developments in the search for a missing
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