A gruesome video has been released of a fatal police shooting of a Black teenager found sleeping in a reportedly stolen car.
The FBI and federal prosecutors have launched a civil rights investigation into the death of Dalaneo Martin, 17, in Washington, DC.
The probe was announced after the US Park Police and Washington Metropolitan Police released body-camera footage of the 18 March shooting on Tuesday, according to CNN.
“The loss of a life is always tragic but is especially heartbreaking when it involves a child,” the US Attorney’s Office in DC said in a statement.
The office said the footage was “extremely upsetting”.
“In coordination with the FBI Washington Field Office, the United States Attorney’s Office has opened a civil rights investigation into the circumstances leading to Mr. Martin’s death. That investigation – which we are committed to conducting diligently and thoroughly – is ongoing,” the office said.
The release of the footage comes at a time of heightened scrutiny of the use of force by police. Footage has been released in several cases where interactions with police led to death or injury, such as the shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana where Alonzo Bagley was killed, and Tyre Nichols, who was beaten to death by officers in Memphis, Tennessee.
Both the Park Police and the Metropolitan Police responded to a report of a stolen car shortly before 9am on 18 March.
Park Police said in a statement that an officer from the other agency was the first to arrive on the scene and “observed the occupant of the vehicle was asleep and the ignition was punched. The officer determined the vehicle was stolen and then called for additional units”.
Officers from both agencies then arrived and they began to discuss how to handle the situation.
Regarding the option to break the window and pull out the driver, one officer can be heard saying in the footage that “Once you break it, he’s gonna wake up, start it and put it in drive to go. We don’t want nobody to get hurt”.
The officers continue to discuss the situation, with an MPD officer saying, “So, here’s the plan. He’s knocked out. The back window is just a plastic. I’m going to try to cut that out quietly, unlock the door. If he doesn’t get startled, doesn’t wake up then we’re going to try to get in there, grab him before he puts that car in gear”.
“If he does take off, just let him go,” the officer says.
Both Park Police and MPD officers try to pull the driver from the car as a Park Police officer gets into the backseat of the vehicle and shouts, “Police, don’t move. Don’t move. Don’t move”.
But the car drives away with the officer remaining in the back.
“Stop man, just let me out. Let me go!” the officer shouts. “Stop. Stop or I’ll shoot!”
Park Police said “the driver did not comply” and that the officer “discharged his firearm”. The footage shows the teen being shot several times.
The car smashed into a home and the officer leaves the car, the footage shows.
Officers then pulled the driver from the vehicle. They called for medical aid and started attempting to help the teenager themselves, including doing chest compressions.
The Park Police said the driver died at the scene and that a firearm was found in the car. No one in the home was injured by the crash.
The officer in the car who fired at Dalaneo and another Park Police officer were taken to hospital.
“The investigation into this incident is being handled by the Metropolitan Police Department and reviewed by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. An administrative review of this incident is being conducted by the Department of the Interior,” Park Police said in a statement, according to CNN.
The faces of the teen and the officers have been blurred in the footage and none of the officers involved have been identified.
Dalaneo’s mother Terra Martin told the press on Wednesday that her son shouldn’t have been killed and that all the officers should face first-degree murder charges.
“This pain hurts so bad. I just want justice for my son,” she said, according to CNN. “And I need the officer to be locked up, all of them that played a role.”
She added that according to the medical examiner, Dalaneo was shot six times and he passed away instantly.
“Seeing the video yesterday of my son being murdered, I’m lost,” she told reporters. “The video self explains everything that they did to my son. And how can you justify this?”
Park Police union leader Kenneth Spencer defended the action of the officers, telling The Washington Post that “there is a lawful reason for him to be in the car, the use of force was justified and the union stands behind the actions the officers took”.
