Justice Department Investigating Police Shooting of Teen Dalaneo Martin After Graphic Bodycam Video Released

Graphic bodycam footage of 17-year-old Dalaneo Martin being fatally shot by police has been released by Washington, D.C. authorities. Immediately after, the U.S. Justice Department announced Wednesday it would conduct a civil rights investigation of the Black teen's death.

"Dalaneo Martin tragically died after a shooting involving the U.S. Park Police, and we recognize that the body-worn camera footage just released of his death is extremely upsetting," The U.S. Attorney's Office in the District of Columbia said in a statement.

"The loss of a life is always tragic but is especially heartbreaking when it involves a child," the statement said.

"In coordination with the FBI Washington Field Office, the United States Attorney’s Office has opened a civil rights investigation into the circumstances leading to Mr. Martin’s death. That investigation — which we are committed to conducting diligently and thoroughly — is ongoing," the department announced. 

In March, D.C. police responded to a call for service and found Martin sleeping in an allegedly stolen car. Less than an hour later, he was shot and killed by a U.S. Park Police officer who had climbed into the back of the vehicle.

The video captured on a body camera appears to show a scuffle as Martin drives away, and the officer yells at him to stop and pull over. Then several shots are heard.

At a press conference in her attorney's office, Martin's mother said the officer who shot her should be arrested.

“I need the officer arrested immediately for murder — first-degree murder,” Terra Martin told reporters.

The union for the park police said the shooting was justified.

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