INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) - The Indianapolis Metro Police Department says an officer has been disciplined for an insensitive comment made at the shooting scene of Dreasjon Reed.
The comment was recorded during Reed's Facebook live shortly after he was shot and killed by police.
A spokesperson for IMPD says the officer received a suspension and has been re-assigned in his duties.
Police say for safety reasons they are not releasing the officer's identity.
On May 6, Reed streamed part of a police chase he was involved in with IMPD. Reed ended up stopping the car at 62nd and Michigan on the city's northwest side.
He then encountered an officer and was shot and killed while the Facebook Live was still streaming.
In the video, which has been removed from Facebook but uploaded to other social media and online platforms, at least 12 to 15 gunshots can be heard before someone says “police action shooting.”
The recovered shell casings came from two guns, according to IMPD Chief Randal Taylor.
“The magazines of both guns show bullets had been fired,” he said. “It appears the gun found near the individual was fired at least twice.”
The officer involved in the altercation, who is Black, is on administrative leave. That is standard procedure during the investigation.
The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office has called for an independent prosecutor to help avoid the appearance of impropriety.
The request does not impact if an outside agency is appointed to handle the investigation. That decision would come from IMPD or from Mayor Hogsett's office.
Mayor Hogsett's office also issued a response May 8 on the investigation, saying in part.
"While I continue to have confidence in Chief Randal Taylor and IMPD’s ability to carry out fair and thorough investigations, it is clear to me that more must be done to provide community confidence in the outcome of those processes. That is why this morning, I contacted the United States Attorney’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and requested that they actively monitor the investigation of the two police action shootings that occurred this week."
