A 17-year-old father is dead after the police in Washington D.C. startled the sleeping teen awake as he slept in a running vehicle and shot him in the back of his head.
Metropolitan Police Department officers and two U.S. Park Police officers responded to a call about a suspicious vehicle parked on the street on March 18. The authorities arrived and saw Dalaneo Martin sleeping in the stolen vehicle.
Video released by the U.S. Park Police on April 4 showed two police officers climbing into the back of a white hatchback vehicle near 34th Street and Baker Street NE at around 9:30 a.m. The officers cut the plastic from one of the windows to unlock the vehicle.
“If he doesn’t get startled and he doesn’t wake up, then we’re going to try to get in there, grab him before he puts that car into gear,” said one police officer before they enter the vehicle. “If we can grab that hand, get a hold of that other one, we’re good to go. But let’s wait to see if he gets startled after I cut it, try to unlock the door. If he does, if he takes off, just let him go. But don’t get inside that car till we, you know.”
Upon entering the vehicle, the officers grabbed Martin by his hands and yelled, “Police! Don’t move!”
Martin began driving, and one of the officers fell out of the vehicle. One officer remained in the backseat and yelled for Martin to stop as the teen yelled, “Get off of me!”
The officer yelled back, “Stop, man, just let me out,” as he reached for his gun. “Let me go!”
Martin kept driving, and after the officer drew his gun, he yelled, “Stop! Stop, or I’ll shoot!”‘
One second later, the officer opened fire aiming at Martin’s head. After the officer fired his weapon at least five times and the car crashed into a nearby house, the officer yelled, “Don’t move!”
He struck Martin in his upper back near his neck. The police…
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