Baltimore police complete Freddie Gray probe; lawyer dismisses suggestion of self-injury
Baltimore police have completed their investigation into their treatment of Freddie Gray, whose death from a spinal injury in police custody sparked protests and rioting in the city.
At a press conference on Thursday, Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said more than 30 detectives investigating the case had “exhausted every lead at this point in time” and turned the case over to prosecutors, report the New York Times and the Baltimore Sun. Police will continue working on the case, as warranted, however. The U.S. Justice Department is also investigating.
Baltimore police will not disclose their findings. A leaked police document, however, says a prisoner sharing a van with Gray said he believed Gray was intentionally trying to hurt himself, the Washington Post reports. The prisoner could not see Gray because of a partition, but he could hear Gray “banging against the walls” of the van.
A lawyer for Gray’s family, Jason Downs, said he questions the accuracy of police reports he has seen on the incident, though he hadn’t heard of the fellow prisoner’s assertions. “We disagree with any implication that Freddie Gray severed his own spinal cord,” Downs said.
