Police chief fired in wake of footage of black teen’s killing in Chicago

Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel fired his police superintendent after it took 13 months to charge a white policeman with the shooting death of a black teenager.

The Chicago Sun-Times, citing unnamed sources, reported that Emanuel had called Supt Garry McCarthy overnight to tell him he was out.

McCarthy came under fire following the release of police dash-cam video of the police shooting of Laquan McDonald, 17.

The teenager was shot 16 times by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke in October 2014.

Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder last week.

He is now out on bail.

Mr McDonald’s death and the release of the video led to protests around the city and the call for McCarthy and Cook County State’s attorney Anita Alvarez to resign.

Just hours earlier, McCarthy said he had no plans to step down and “will not give up on the good people of Chicago” during an appearance on ABC7 Eyewitness News This Morning.

When asked about why Van Dyke, 37, was never disciplined for the 18 civilian complaints filed against him in his 14 years with CPD, McCarthy said the last seven complaints were not investigated by the department.

The mayor said McCarthy has been an “excellent leader of our police department over the past four years”, but said “now is the time for fresh eyes and new leadership”.