Body camera videos released by the US Park Police show details of the events leading up to the shooting of their officer and…
Body camera videos released by the US Park Police show details of the events that led their officer to shoot and kill a teenager in a stolen car in Northeast DC.
DC police flagged down a park police vehicle for help regarding what they said was a stolen vehicle in the 3400 block of Baker Street Northeast on March 18. There was a person sleeping inside the moving vehicle next to the driver, who D.C. police identified as Dalaneo. Martin, 17, of Northwest DC
In the body camera footage, two park police officers, identified as Officers 1 and 2, and DC Police approached the vehicle. Officer 1’s video shows a DC police officer approaching the vehicle from the rear passenger side and getting halfway inside, the officer’s feet not inside the vehicle. Officer 1 is seen entering the vehicle from the rear passenger side.
Officer 2’s body camera shows the other Park Police officer attempting to enter the rear driver’s side of the vehicle. Officers are heard saying, “Police. Don’t move. Don’t move.”
As the vehicle begins to move, it is shown that Officer 2 cannot get into the vehicle; Park police described the officer as being “dragged by the moving vehicle.”
In Officer 2’s video, police can be heard saying the vehicle just took off with the other officer in the vehicle with the driver.
Officer 1’s video shows what unfolded inside the car. First, there was a struggle between Officers 1 and 2 and the driver, with the officers telling the driver to stop and the driver saying, “Put me down.”
By then, only Officer 1 is with the driver inside the vehicle, with the officer telling Martin, who was driving away, to stop.
“Stop, man. Just let me out,” Officer 1 can be heard saying. “Let me go. Stop. Stop, or I’ll shoot.”
The video shows Officer 1 firing his weapon at least five times from the back seat and Martin being hit from behind and screaming.
Shortly after, the vehicle crashed into a house on Northeast 36th Street. Park police said no one was injured inside the home, but there was structural damage to the home.
The next scene in the video shows the two park police officers administering first aid to Martin until DC Fire and EMS arrived.
Martin was pronounced dead at the scene. Park police said a firearm was found in the vehicle and both officers were taken to the hospital for treatment.
A longer video captured by Officer 1’s body camera, showing park police and DC police discussing strategies for removing the driver from the vehicle, including opening the door and grabbing him before putting the vehicle in leave
“If it takes off, let it go. But don’t get in that car,” a DC police officer can be heard saying. DC police have strict guidelines on when to engage in a vehicle pursuit
D.C. police are investigating what happened, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia is reviewing the incident. The Department of the Interior, of which the National Park Service is an agency, is also conducting an administrative review of the shooting.
Park Police officers are authorized to use the same law enforcement powers as DC Police within the District.
You can view the body camera footage on the National Park Service website. (Editor’s note: Video content may be disturbing to viewers.)
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