Graphic Video Shows Chicago Police Shooting of 17-Year Old

WARNING: This video contains graphic violence.

Nov-25-2015-(CHICAGO) - ILLINOIS: 17-year old Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times by a Chicago police officer in October 2014 and the police dashcam video was released Tuesday.

A judge had ordered the city to release the disturbing video by Wednesday, but a version was leaded to ABC7 Chicago Eyewitness News on Tuesday morning, so the Chicago police moved up the scheduled release.

ABC7 Chicago Eyewitness News did not air the video until it was officially released due to their concern for public safety. The full video, unedited, is almost 6-minutes long. A short version is below.

Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke is charged with First degree murder. He is being held without bail.

The video was made available via a request of the Freedom of Information Act, filed by a freelance journalist.

The victim's family did not want the video to be released. A statement from the McDonald's said, "This is a difficult time for us. As we have said in the past, while we would prefer that the video not be released we understand that a court has ordered otherwise..."

"We ask for calm in Chicago. No one understands the anger more than us but if you choose to speak out, we urge you to be peaceful. Don't resort to violence in Laquan's name. Let his legacy be better than that," McDonald's family said.

Chicago officials have voiced concern about the possibility of civil unrest, and in keeping with that real possibility, the McDonald family called for peaceful protests.

Tuesday, Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez described the video in court: "At 9:57:36, McDonald has crossed over the white lane divider away from the officers, and Officer Van Dyke has taken at least one step towards McDonald with his weapon drawn.

"The officer then opened fire on Laquan, whose arm jerks, his body spins around and he falls to the ground. While Laquan is falling to the ground the defendant takes at least one more step towards him, at which point the angle of the dash camera changes and we can no longer see the officer in the frame of the video.

"Two seconds later, Laquan McDonald is lying on the street on his right side, and the video captures what appears to be two puffs of smoke coming from the ground near his body. These puffs of smoke were later identified as clouds of debris caused by the fired bullets. At 9:57:51, McDonald is still lying on the street and the last visible shot is fired."

Then, there is a pause as Van Dyke reloads his gun. His partner tells him to hold fire and then walks over to McDonald and kicks away the teenager's knife.

In court documents, Anita Alvarez said Van Dyke acted "without legal justification and with the intent to kill or do great bodily harm, Jason D. Van Dyke personally discharged a firearm that proximately cause the death of LaQuan McDonald."

WARNING: GRAPHIC VIOLENCE: The entire video is available here: GRAPHIC VIDEO OF POLICE SHOOTING

Sources: abc7chicago; Chicago Police Department; CBSN; other sources