In his announcement at a news conference, Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts did not give details of the report or take questions. He said the department dedicated more than 30 detectives to working on the case and report. “I understand the frustration; I understand the sense of urgency. ... That is why we have finished it a day ahead of time,” Batts said.
Protests that followed Gray's death, apparently from injuries received while he was in police custody, have escalated into the city's worst riots since 1968, when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.
The findings of the investigation include the discovery that a police van carrying Gray made a previously undisclosed stop en route to a police station.The new stop turned up on video taken from “a privately owned camera,” said the deputy police commissioner, Kevin Davis. He added that it was “previously unknown to us,” but he did not elaborate.
A Washington Post story suggested Gray tried to hurt himself while riding in a police van, and a local television report said the medical examiner saw no evidence that he suffered the fatal injury during his arrest.
Baltimore's crisis at a glance
Freddie Gray
–25 years old
–arrested April 12 after Baltimore officers said he made eye contact with them and ran
–was pinned to a sidewalk, handcuffed and hoisted into a police van where he was put in leg irons
–was put into the van without a seat belt, a violation of police department policy
–either in the arrest or the van transport, he suffered a fatal spinal injury
–died of his injuries on April 19
The aftermath
–six officers involved have been suspended with pay amid the criminal investigation
–Gray’s death was followed by a week of peaceful protests
–violent protests erupted Monday near Gray’s funeral, with looting and buildings being set on fire
–Maryland’s Governor declared a state of emergency and sent in the National Guard, the first time since the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 that the National Guard was called out in Baltimore to prevent civil unrest
–the Balitmore Orioles held their Wednesday-night game against the Chicago White Sox with spectators barred from the stadium for security reasons, and the game rescheduled to accomodate the nightly 10 p.m. curfew
(Read more: Athletes plead for calm in wake of Baltimore riots)
What happens now?
Authorities have said the state’s attorney’s office will review the information, consider charges and decide how to move forward. Batts, the police commissioner, also said police would continue to work on the case at the direction of the state’s attorney.
On Wednesday, rumours circulated that some kind of “verdict” will be rendered when police handed their report to prosecutors. But Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and other officials worked to dispel that notion. “It became very clear … that people misunderstood,” Rawlings-Blake said.
Hassan Murphy, a lawyer for Gray’s family, underscored their comments, saying, “This family wants justice and they want justice that comes at the right time and not too soon.”
The other man in the van
At Thursday’s police news conference, Deputy Commissioner Kevin Davis reviewed the timeline of Gray’s time in custody and his death. Davis said police discovered a new stop the van made with Gray in it, but they did not say what happened. Davis said the stop was found through footage from a privately owned camera.
At a later stop at the tail end of Gray’s ride, police put another man in the van. He told investigators that Gray was “was still moving around, that he was kicking and making noises” up until the van arrived at the police station. Batts said the man also said the driver did not speed, make sudden stops or “drive erratically.”
The prisoner said he had heard sounds that suggested Gray was banging his own head against the wall, according to a document written by a police investigator and obtained by the Washington Post. The other prisoner could not see Gray because they were separated by a metal divider.
And unidentified law enforcement sources told a local ABN TV affiliate there was no evidence found that officers caused Gray’s injuries during his arrest. The medical examiner found that Gray, who was not wearing seat restraints, suffered the blow when he slammed into the back of the van, apparently breaking his neck, sources told WJLA. It was unclear what caused Gray to bang his head. The wound in Gray’s head appeared to match a bolt jutting out from the van’s back door.
Deaths in police custody
Gray’s death was the latest in a series of high-profile cases around the country in which black men have died as the result of encounters with police. Protests similar to Baltimore’s have erupted over the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Eric Garner in New York last year, and the death earlier this month in South Carolina of Walter Scott. Scott was fatally shot in the back by a white police officer who has since been charged with murder.
More on Ferguson: Justice Department report details systemic racial bias
Analysis: The lessons of Ferguson: Race, protest, and militarized policing
More on Walter Scott: S.C. city’s aggressive policing challenged after shooting
Slowly back to normal
The mayor and others tried to stay focused on the positive Wednesday, applauding residents for obeying the 10 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew that first went into effect Tuesday night and for preventing a repeat of Monday night’s violence.
“Things are looking really good today,” Governor Larry Hogan told a news conference Wednesday. “Things looked yesterday a lot better than they did the day before. Today they look better than yesterday, so we’re making a lot of progress.”
There were some signs throughout the city of life getting back to normal, with schools reopening and cars rolling as usual through streets that had been cleared of debris.
Scores arrested across U.S.
Widespread protests Wednesday night – not only in Baltimore, but in several cities including Boston, New York and Washington, D.C. – made it clear that tensions over the case are far from subsiding. While the demonstrations were mostly peaceful, police made numerous arrests.
More than 100 people were arrested in New York after police on a loudspeaker warned protesters they’d be taken into custody if they marched in the street. Most of the arrests were for disorderly conduct.
Protesters first rallied in Manhattan’s Union Square, where they chanted “No justice, no peace!” and “Hands up, don’t shoot!” Then a group of protesters spilled into the street, disrupting traffic. Dozens of police officers moved in with plastic handcuffs and began making arrests while officers with batons pushed the crowd back onto the sidewalk.
(Video: Gunfire in Ferguson amid Freddie Gray protest)
With a report from The New York Times