The parents of the 16-year-old who was shot and killed by the NYPD in March will file a wrongful death suit against the city. Kimani Gray's family claims police left the mortally wounded teenager on the ground for 15 minutes without giving him medical attention. “We have a videotape that shows all these police personnel who pretty much militarized the block,” the family's attorney Kenneth Montgomery told the Daily News. “And this young man is on the pavement, perceived not to be getting any medical attention for up to 15 minutes.”
Police have maintained that Gray brandished a loaded .38 caliber pistol at officers in East Flatbush, which caused them to open fire. Gray was struck by seven bullets, three of them in the back. A witness to the shooting has claimed that Gray was not holding a gun, though other witnesses have told police that the responding officers yelled at Gray to stop, but he refused.
"We have three [civilian] witnesses, two of which said that one of the officers shouted 'Don't move' and 'Freeze,' " NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly told reporters in March. "Two witnesses also said they heard officers say, 'What do you have in your hands?' "
The two officers who shot Gray, Sgt. Mourad Mourad and Officer Jovaniel Cordova, cost the city $215,000 in court settlements for five federal lawsuits that were filed against them for civil rights violations. The Brooklyn DA's office tells the News they are continuing to investigate Gray's shooting.
Several marches to commemorate Gray's memory and protest police brutality in East Flatbush have ended violently; on one occasion a Rite Aid was sacked and at others demonstrators were arrested, including Gray's 19-year-old sister.
