Death of Baltimore man a week after
arrest raises questions
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[April 20, 2015]
(Reuters) - A black man died in a
Baltimore hospital on Sunday, a week after he was arrested and dragged
into a police van by white patrol officers, authorities said on Sunday,
raising questions about how he sustained his injuries and prompting an
investigation.
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Freddie Gray, 27, died at the Shock Trauma Center, a part of the
University of Maryland Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Karen
Lancaster said.
He was brought to the hospital on April 12 after his arrest on
suspicions of criminal activity, according to police, who have not
revealed any specific allegations against him.
The hospital did not disclose the cause of Gray's death. Local
media, citing a family spokesman, have reported that he had spinal
injuries.
Representatives of the hospital and the Baltimore police were not
immediately available for further comments.
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Gray's death follows a series of killings of unarmed black men by
white police officers. The deadly encounters, including incidents in
Ferguson, Missouri, and New York City, have raised a national outcry
over the treatment of minorities by law enforcement.
Most recently, a white officer in North Charleston, South Carolina,
was charged with murder earlier this month after a bystander's video
caught him shooting a black man in the back as he fled from a
traffic stop.
In a televised news conference on Sunday, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie
Rawlings-Blake extended her condolences to Gray's family and said
city officials were asking questions about the incident.
"How was Mr. Gray injured?" Rawlings-Blake asked. "Were proper
protocols and procedures followed?"
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She promised that officials would get the answers to these questions
through a prompt investigation.
Gray was suspected in criminal activity and arrested in a high-crime
area, Baltimore police said.
A video taken by a civilian showed officers dragging Gray into the
van, but did not show what happened afterward.
Baltimore Deputy Police Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez said at the
Sunday news conference that police had no evidence of an altercation
that would have resulted in the death.
(Reporting by Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
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