Chicago council approves $5M settlement in police shooting

CHICAGO (AP) – The Chicago City Council approved $5 million settlement Wednesday with the family of a teenager killed after being shot by a police officer 16 times last October.

Federal and county prosecutors and the FBI are investigating the death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, who police said was wielding a knife.

Chicago Corporation Counsel Stephen Patton had recommended the settlement and told reporters that dashboard camera footage of the Oct. 20 shooting prompted the city’s decision to settle with the family before a lawsuit was filed.

Aldermen voted Wednesday without seeing police dashboard camera video, saying they didn’t need to view footage of the incident. Authorities have declined to release the video of the shooting as several other departments have done recently following other dramatic confrontations involving police.

The family’s attorney, Mike Robbins, has said a “fair and prompt resolution” was reached without the necessity of litigation.

The unidentified officer who shot McDonald has been stripped of his police powers and put on paid desk duty, according to a spokesman for Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy.

An autopsy found McDonald had wounds to his chest, neck, back, arms and right leg.