Durham (US): Police say all evidence collected during their investigation into the shooting death of a handcuffed teenager indicates he killed himself with a concealed large-caliber pistol that a rookie officer failed to detect when he frisked him.
Durham police yesterday presented preliminary findings of an internal investigation into the shooting death of 17-year-old Jesus Huerta, who died November 19 in the back of a squad car as it was pulling into the parking lot at police headquarters.
A medical examiner`s report released separately yesterday said Huerta died from a close-range gunshot to the face.
Huerta had been arrested by Officer Samuel Duncan shortly before he died on an outstanding warrant for misdemeanor trespassing after a family member called police and asked for help after the teen walked out of his home following a late-night argument.
"The evidence and information collected thus far indicate that Mr Huerta had a handgun concealed on his person," said Capt. L J Clayton, who oversaw the department`s internal affairs investigation. "Officer Duncan did not discover this handgun during his search of Mr Huerta. Mr Huerta shot himself with that handgun."
The Durham Police report on the shooting is separate from an ongoing review by the State Bureau of Investigation, the findings of which have not yet been made public.
Huerta`s death in police custody has rocked this Southern city. Racial tensions here can be quick to boil to the surface and mistrust of law enforcement runs deep in many minority neighborhoods, even though the city`s police chief is Latino and the long-serving mayor is black.
What was intended as a peaceful candlelight vigil involving about 200 people a few days before Christmas turned violent when heavily armed police in riot gear responded with canisters of tear gas after they said an officer was struck in the helmet by a bottle thrown from within the crowd. Six people were arrested.
Authorities called a news media-only briefing yesterday at the city`s downtown police headquarters. The teen`s family and their attorney, who have been highly critical of the conduct of the police officials, including Chief Jose L Lopez Sr., were not invited. The report was released to the family before officials discussed it with reporters.
In presenting the preliminary findings, Clayton said Huerta`s sister called police about 2:10 am to report the teen missing. The sister told the dispatcher that Huerta had previously attempted suicide, but, according to police, that information was not relayed to officers on the ground.
