Washington, April 30 (IANS) The Baltimore City Police Department delivered its report on the death of black resident Freddie Gray to prosecutors on Thursday, a day earlier than promised.
The report was submitted before 9 a.m. on Thursday, Efe quoted police commissioner Anthony Batts as saying in a press conference.
Batts initially set a deadline of May 1 for the task force investigating Gray’s death to deliver the findings.
“Out of due care for the family, the citizens, the police officers, I set a date, not the mayor. I set a date to get this done. I was communicating clearly that I wanted a sense of urgency on this case to get the results out there,” the commissioner said.
“This does not mean that the investigation is over,” Batts said. “If new evidence is found, we will follow it. If new direction is given by the state’s attorney, we will obey it and we will follow through with the investigation.”
Both the state attorney’s office and lawyers representing the Gray family have cautioned the public not to expect an immediate announcement about possible charges against the six police officers involved in the incident, who remain suspended with pay.
The events leading to Gray’s death began with a chance encounter on April 12, when the 25-year-old took off running after making eye contact with a police officer.
Six policemen gave chase and eventually caught up with Gray and placed him under arrest.
The police put Gray inside a transport van for the ride to Western District headquarters, where personnel found him unresponsive and decided to call an ambulance.
He died a week later at the hospital of a spinal injury.
Violent protests broke out in Baltimore following Gray’s funeral on Monday, but the city has been relatively calm since authorities imposed a state of emergency and a 10 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew.
Mostly peaceful demonstrations over Gray’s death spread on Wednesday night to other major cities, including New York and Washington.
The Gray case, coming after a string of deaths of unarmed blacks at the hands of white police, notably the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, has fuelled anger over the disproportionate use of force against African Americans.
Authorities in Baltimore have not disclosed the race of any of the six officers involved in Gray’s arrest.
