Video: A White DC Park Cop Crept Into the Backseat of Parked Car and then Violently Woke Up Sleeping Black Teen. Cop Faced No Imminent Harm as Teen Drove Away but Still Shot Him to Death, Feds Review
From [HERE] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Thursday opened a civil investigation into the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Dalaneo Martin by a US Park Police officer on March 18 in Washington, DC. The announcement comes two days after the US Park Police released police bodycam footage of the shooting.
The investigation is set to probe into the shooting, which occurred when Washington Metropolitan Police and US Park Police were called to a neighborhood in northeast Washington, D.C. on the morning of March 18. Once there, officers found Martin in the driver’s seat of a suspected stolen car with the ignition on. The video shows the teen was asleep in the drivers seat of the car. The seat is reclined all the way down
“Here’s the plan,” one of the officers is heard saying in the video. “He’s knocked out. The back window is just plastic. I’m going to try to cut that out quietly. If he gets startled, doesn’t wake up, then we’re going to try to get in there, grab him before he puts that car in gear.” In response, another officer said, “If he takes off, he takes off. Just don’t get caught inside of that car.”
It’s not clear why the police didn’t simply just gently knock on the window to wake up the teen.
An Officer is seen sneaking into the vehicle through the backseat doors of the car and the driver’s side door, startling Martin, who puts the car into gear and drives away with a US Park Police officer in the backseat. The officer in the video is heard yelling “Stop. Stop or I’ll shoot!” before firing his gun at Martin. The car then crashes into a house, and officers pull Martin out to attempt resuscitation.
In a statement, the DOJ US Attorney’s Office said, “The loss of a life is always tragic but is especially heartbreaking when it involves a child.” The investigation is an open matter, so no additional comment or release regarding it is currently provided.