Inverted Batteries to Blame for Lack of Laquan McDonald Audio Footage: Documents

Batteries were inserted upside down

The Chicago police squad car that captured the October 2014 shooting of 17-year old Laquan McDonald had no audio on its dashboard camera because the vehicle had "no MICs (microphones) because they were in the glove compartment with the batteries inserted upside down — disabling them," according to documents obtained by NBC Chicago.

The initial release of the silent video in November sparked weeks of outrage and protests in Chicago.

Officer Jason Van Dyke, who fired the fatal shots, arrived in a unit in which police reports state there were "no MICs in (the) vehicle and the charging cradles (were) disconnected from power," according to the documents.

In addition, the documents released by police reveal what happened to the audio recorders in the other three vehicles at the scene. For one, a mobile start-up recorder was corrupted.

In another, the microphone was not synced.

A third camera was processing other video footage at the time of the shooting, unable to record the scene. 

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