A federal civil rights investigation has been opened into the police killing of a 17-year-old in Washington, D.C., after body camera footage of the fatal shooting was released Tuesday.
On March 18, Metropolitan Police Department and U.S. Park Police officers found Dalaneo Martin asleep in a car police believed to be stolen, officials said. Park police got into the car and, after a struggle, Martin drove away with an officer still in the backseat. That officer shot Martin multiple times, body camera video shows, before Martin crashed the car into a house.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office called the footage of the shooting “extremely upsetting.”
“The loss of a life is always tragic but is especially heartbreaking when it involves a child,” the office said in a statement. “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.”
What does the body camera footage show?
MPD officers responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle and found Martin asleep in the driver’s seat of a car police said was reported stolen earlier that month, according to police. The engine was running and the ignition was damaged, police said.
Additional MPD officers and two Park Police officers arrived to help detain Martin, the department said. The group can be heard discussing how to remove Martin from the car in body camera footage released by MPD.
“The back window is just a plastic. I’m going to try to cut that out quietly, unlock the door,” an MPD officer can be heard saying. “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.”
After further discussion of where Martin’s hands are, the officer says police should wait to see if Martin “gets startled” after he tries to unlock the door. “If he does, if he takes off, just let him go,” the officer says.
The officers surround the car on both sides, enter the vehicle and attempt to restrain Martin, the footage shows. One officer falls to the ground on the driver’s side as Martin drives away with a Park Police officer still in the back seat.
“Stop man, just let me out. Let me go,” the officer says while Martin keeps driving. “Stop. Stop or I’ll shoot!”
A second later, the officer shoots Martin in the back multiple times, according to the footage. The vehicle then crashes into a house, the officer gets out and officers begin CPR on Martin. Martin was pronounced dead at the scene and the Park Police officers were taken to the hospital after the shooting, the department said.
Police found a gun inside the vehicle after crash, according to both agencies. Family attorney Jade Mathis told USA TODAY on Thursday it’s unusual police have not said exactly where the weapon was found or what kind of gun it was.
Family wants officers fired, charged
Martin’s family, including his mother Terra Martin, watched footage of the incident hours before it was released to the public, but it was redacted and incomplete, Mathis said.
“It started off as tears, then rightfully so she got angry,” Mathis said. “She said, ‘I knew it, I knew it. He murdered my baby.'”
Speaking during a Wednesday press conference, Terra Martin said she wants the officers involved to be identified and charged with murder. A spokesperson said the MPD officers at the scene do not have to be identified because they “were not involved in any serious uses of force.” A spokesperson for the USPP did not immediately respond to a request to identify the officers involved.
“I don’t eat, I don’t sleep and justice needs to be served,” she said.
Terra Martin said she was told by the medical examiner her son was shot six times. The chief medical examiner’s office said in a statement to USA TODAY Martin’s cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds and the manner of death was homicide, but did not specify how many gunshot wounds he suffered.
Martin had a 7-month-old son, Mathis said. Martin’s mother said he was her fifth child. His funeral is scheduled for next week.
“He’s my sunshine,” Terra Martin said. “That’s my protector. You took my protector away.”
MPD, federal officials investigating the shooting
The investigation by MPD has been sent to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia for independent review, a department spokesperson said Thursday.
The executive board of the Park Police’s union released a statement Thursday saying Martin was a “clear threat” to the officer who shot him. The statement adds the officers involved followed department policies and called the officers’ actions “justified.”
An administrative review is also being conducted by the Department of the Interior, which will determine whether the officers acted in accordance with policy, according to a Park Police spokesperson.
Park Police said in a statement after the shooting the two officers involved are on paid administrative leave during the investigation.
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Contact Breaking News Reporter N’dea Yancey-Bragg at nyanceybra@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @NdeaYanceyBragg