Death in custody

An investigation is under way into the death Freddie Gray, 25, who died from spinal injuries a week after police took him into custody.

The arrest: Mobile phone video from a bystander shows Gray’s arrest on April 12 around 8:40am local time, on Presbury Street in the Sandtown neighbourhood of the city.

Motive for the arrest: Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said it is not clear why Gray was stopped by police but officers “made eye contact” with Gray and the other man before the pair took off. “There is no law against running,” he added. A police report says an officer found a “knife clipped to the inside of his front right pants pocket”. It goes on to say that it was a switchblade, a type of spring-loaded knife that is illegal to possess in Baltimore.

The police van: In the mobile phone video, Gray can be heard screaming repeatedly before a police van arrives to take him away. While the van was en route to the police station, officers put Gray in leg irons after an officer determined that he became “irate”. Police have also admitted that the van stopped to pick up another suspect in a separate case while on the way to the police station. This stop was done despite repeated requests for medical attention by Gray.

The injuries: A police document says that Gray “suffered a medical emergency” while he was being transported in the van and that he was “immediately transported to Shock Trauma via medic”. He arrived in a critical condition. Briefing the media on the results of an autopsy on Monday, Deputy Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez said Gray “did suffer a very tragic injury to his spinal cord which resulted in his death”. Gray’s “spine was 80 per cent severed at his neck”. Where and when that injury was sustained is not clear.