Attorneys for the family of a black motorcyclist who was fatally shot by a D.C. police officer said Thursday that there is more body-worn camera footage of the incident than that released to the public.
Jason Downs, who is representing the family of 31-year-old Terrence Sterling, said police released to him additional footage that shows a D.C. police union representative arriving at the scene of the Sept. 11 shooting about six minutes after an officer’s body-worn camera was turned on.
Mr. Downs said the police union representative, whom he declined to name, identifies herself in the footage. It is not clear whether the representative was called before or after police requested an ambulance for Sterling.
“That’s the question. We want to know how long it took the ambulance to arrive and who was called first, the union rep or the ambulance,” Mr. Downs said at a press conference at the Thurgood Marshall Center in Northwest. “Are we prioritizing the safety of innocent civilians? Or are we prioritizing making sure officers get their story straight with their union representative?”
This comes days after D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser released a portion of the body camera footage to the public along with the name of the officer involved.
Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Kevin Donahue’s office did not answer emails seeking comment.
The Metropolitan Police Department referred all questions to the mayor’s office. A spokesperson for Ms. Bowser told The Washington Post on Thursday that the administration is committed to transparency in the investigation and is working to answer all questions.
During the press conference Mr. Downs praised Ms. Bowser’s office for quickly releasing the body-camera footage and the identity of the officer. But he said there are too many questions left unanswered.
“The family is hopeful that our governmental officials continue conducting a transparent, timely and thorough investigation,” said Mr. Downs, a lawyer at Murphy, Falcon & Murphy, the firm that represented the family of Freddie Gray, the Baltimore man who died in police custody in 2015.
Mr. Downs said the Sterling family chose not to speak because they were still grieving.
“The family is in the process of grieving,” he said. “They recently saw this footage and it reopened the wound. They’re still seeking answers.”
On Wednesday the D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said Sterling died of gunshot wounds to his back and neck, ruling his death a homicide — meaning that he did not die of natural causes, suicide or an accident.
The video footage starts after the shooting occurred early on Sept. 11. It shows Officer Brian Trainer, who fired the fatal shot, and others trying to revive Sterling.
Around 4:20 a.m. on Sept. 11, Metropolitan Police officers said they saw a motorcycle driving erratically in the vicinity of 15th and U streets NW. A few minutes later another officer saw a matching motorcycle near Third and M streets NW.
Police said the officer had exited the passenger side of his cruiser to confront the motorcyclist when the man “intentionally” drove his bike into the passenger door. That’s when Officer Trainer shot and killed Sterling.
Officer Trainer, who has been on the force for four years, was the only officer on the scene equipped with a body-worn camera, but he did not activate it until after the shooting.
Since the shooting, Ms. Bowser instructed the police department to update its policy on body-worn cameras to require officers to confirm to dispatchers that their cameras are activated when responding to calls.
The shooting is being investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Metropolitan Police Department.
• Ryan M. McDermott can be reached at rmcdermott@washingtontimes.com.
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