Freddie Gray sustained head injury in police van

BALTIMORE, April 30 (UPI) — Freddie Gray sustained a serious head injury while inside a Baltimore police prisoner transport wagon one week before he died from a spinal cord injury, sources said Thursday.

Multiple law enforcement sources told WJLA-TV in Baltimore Gray sustained a fatal head and neck injury when he slammed into the back of the inside of the van. The medical examiner’s office said a wound on Gray’s head matched a protruding bolt in the back of the van.

The Baltimore Sun confirmed the new details, though the publication did not describe the head injury as fatal.

Police previously said Gray wasn’t buckled inside the prisoner van.

“Our position is something happened inside that van,” Michael Davey, a lawyer for the Baltimore police union said. “We just don’t know what.

Baltimore police on Thursday said they completed their investigation one day ahead of a self-imposed deadline and handed to case over to city prosecutors.

“I understand the frustration, I understand the sense of urgency, and so has the organization, and that is why we finished a day ahead of time,” Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said announcing the completion of the investigation. “I also know that getting to the right answer is more important than speed.”

Police didn’t offer many details from the report, but did reveal a previously unknown stop the prisoner van made while Gray was inside April 12.

Gray was arrested around 8:40 a.m. after running from police who were working a beat in West Baltimore. Police have yet to specify why they stopped Gray.

Video taken at the scene of the arrest shows multiple officers tackling him to the ground face down, pressing into his back and pulling his feet up and into his back. He was then pulled into a standing position and taken to the prisoner van with his feet dragging.

The van then made a stop one block south of where Gray was arrested, though there are no details about what happened during that stop.

A second stop, revealed for the first time Thursday, took place at N. Freemont Avenue and Mosher Street. Police learned about this stop through private video footage in the neighborhood.

There is a third stop police previously knew about, along with a fourth where a second prisoner was picked up.

State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby confirmed she received the case from Baltimore police, but said she’s conducting her own investigation into Gray’s death.

“While we have and will continue to leverage the information received by the department, we are not relying solely on their findings but rather the facts that we have gathered and verified,” she said. “We ask for the public to remain patient and peaceful and to trust the process of the justice system.”

Meanwhile, peaceful protests continued Thursday in Baltimore and across the United States. The group marched throughout the city until the 10 p.m. curfew when most people cleared the streets.

A small group of people remained past curfew at W. North and Pennsylvania avenues, the epicenter of where protests turned violent Monday night. At least one arrest was made at that location.