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UNITED STATESTeen shot dead by policeman sitting behind him in car
An officer shot and killed a 19-year-old black man who was trying to drive away. A federal investigation has been opened.
The policeman holding the young fugitive at gunpoint from the back seat. Shortly after, he opened fire.
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A new controversy takes place in the United States for a black man shot dead by a police officer. In this case it is a 17 year old teenager trying to flee at the wheel of a car. An officer, who had slipped into the back seat, killed him by shooting him in the back. An investigation has been opened.
The drama took place in Washington on March 18, around 9 a.m. Police this week released footage taken from officers’ body cameras.
That day, officers were called for a stolen car. They found it, parked, with a very young man inside, sleeping in the driver’s seat.
The images show the police attempting the arrest. An officer opens the driver’s door in an attempt to subdue the teenager. Another slips into the back of the car to do the same, relates CNN.
“Stop or I’ll shoot!”
The following is quite chaotic but the driver resists his arrest and manages to start by pushing the policeman who was on top of him.
Other images come from the camera of the policeman who is in the back of the car. He takes aim at the driver with his pistol. “Stop it man, just let me out! Let me go!” he cried. Then: “Stop. Stop or I’ll shoot!” Immediately afterwards, the policeman shoots the young driver several times, hitting him in the back.
The car crashed into a house seconds later. And the fugitive, Dalaneo Martin, was pronounced dead at the scene. He had a young child. According to the images made public, the teenager was not armed. But police said a gun was found in the car.
‘shattering’ images
“The loss of a life is always tragic but it is particularly heartbreaking when it comes to a child,” said communiqué the US Department of Justice on Wednesday. Speaking of the “extremely distressing” images, the department announced the opening of a federal “civil rights investigation into the circumstances leading to Mr. Martin’s death.”
The unidentified policeman who opened fire belongs to a federal agency, the US Park Police. He received the support of the union president of the agency. “There’s a legitimate reason he was in the car, the use of force was justified, and the union supports the officers’ actions,” Kenneth Spencer told the Washington Post.
“The video explains everything they did to my son,” reacted Terra Martin, the mother of the young deceased. She said her suffering as her desire that the police officers involved be arrested for “first degree murder”. “I need the policeman to be locked up, like everyone who played a role,” she said. She said the coroner told her that her son had been shot six times.