Newly released audio recordings indicate that at least one Chicago officer asked radio dispatch for Taser support to subdue 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.
Radio calls made Oct. 20, 2014, and obtained by NBC Chicago and released Wednesday, demonstrate that minutes before the teen was fatally shot 16 times, an officer tried to request nonlethal force.
"Someone have a Taser?" an officer radioed from the scene. "This guy is walking away, but he's got a knife in hand."
An officer replies that one is en route. The police dispatcher then puts out a request for an officer with a Taser who is closer to the incident to "help out."
According to NBC Chicago, seven minutes elapsed from the time the officer asked for Taser support and the time Laquan was shot. It is unclear whether any of the officers on the scene during the shooting had Tasers.
Police dash-cam footage during the incident clearly shows Laquan walking down the center of the street when a police car pulls into view. An officer emerges from the car and begins firing. Laquan is hit and falls to the ground. In total, 16 shots were fired.
For months, protesters demanded that police release video footage of the fatal encounter. On Nov. 24, 2015, 13 months after the shooting, the footage was released, and on the same day, Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke was formally indicted and charged with first-degree murder in Laquan's death.
Read more at NBC Chicago.