US Justice Dept to probe police officer fatally shooting black teen

Washington, April 6

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it will probe an incident of a police officer fatally shooting a black teenager, while he was sitting behind and the latter was driving a stolen vehicle.

While announcing the probe on Wednesday, the DOJ said: "The loss of a life is always tragic but is especially heartbreaking when it involves a child," the BBC reported.

"In coordination with the FBI Washington Field Office, the US 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 announcement came a day after US Park Police and Washington Metropolitan Police released bodycam footage on Tuesday showing the fatal encounter on March 18.

According to the police, the 17-year-old victim, Dalaneo Martin of Washington D.C., was asleep in a parked, stolen vehicle on March 18 when officers opened the door.

The footage shows police officers discussing on how to arrest Martin.

They officers talk about cutting through plastic film that was being used as a temporary window in the vehicle and restraining him before he could drive off.

A Washington police officer can be heard in the video advising Park Police: "Please don't get caught inside (the vehicle)."

Footage then shows the teen driving away, leaving an officer in the backseat.

"Stop man, just let me out! Let me go!" the officer is heard shouting.

"Stop. Stop or I'll shoot!" he says seconds before firing multiple times.

The car crashes into a house seconds later and police are seen rendering medical aid to the teen on a front lawn.

US Park Police said Martin died at the scene and a gun was recovered from inside the vehicle.

While the DOJ called the bodycam video "extremely upsetting", chairman of the US Park Police union Kenneth Spencer has defended the officer who shot the victim.

In a statement to The Washington Post on Wednesday, Spencer said: "There is a lawful reason for him to be in the car, the use of force was justified and the union stands behind the actions the officers took."

This latest incident comes amid nationwide scrutiny of police use of force, sparked by the release of bodycam footage in several cases where an interaction with police resulted in death or injury, including the fatal February shooting of Alonzo Bagley in Shreveport, Louisiana, and the beating death of Tyre Nichols by officers in Memphis, Tennessee.