Police Officers Questioned In Unexplained Death Of Freddie Grey

NEW YORK - April 24, 2015 - PRLog -- Six Baltimore police officers remain suspended as City officials investigate the death of Freddie Gray a 25-year-old man who suffered a severe spinal cord injury while in police custody.Gray had been hospitalized since his April 12 arrest and, according to his attorney, was in a coma when he died. Gray, died a week after he suffered a broken vertabra after being arrested by Baltimore City Police Officers near Gilmor Homes in the Sandtown-Winchester section of Baltimore.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake continued to ask for calm while facing disintegrating relations between Baltimore police and the community it serves. “It has been difficult to overcome decades of mistrust,” Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said at a news conference, adding that she was encouraged by peaceful protests thus far. “Our community is experiencing a great deal of trauma. .None of us get the answers we need or the Gray family deserves by resorting to violence.” The Mayor said she welcomed the Justice Department's involvement. She has called along for an outside review.

Rawlings-Blake and the police commissioner said the results of an investigation would be turned over to prosecutors to determine whether criminal charges are warranted. Officials said it was not clear how Gray was injured or whether he was hurt during his arrest or when he was in the back of a police van used to transport suspects.

Officials also were unable to answer other key questions, such as whether Gray was given prompt medical attention and whether he had done anything illegal or suspicious to justify officers detaining him in Gilmor Homes, a cluster of red-brick public housing on Baltimore’s west side.

The NAACP released a statement that read in part, Mr. Gray’s death is a grim reminder of the urgent need for criminal justice reform. This latest tragedy raises deeply troubling questions about police brutality, accountability and the excessive use of force.