The Office of the D.C. Auditor is investigating a deadly shooting involving a police officer earlier this month in Southeast.
Deon Kay, 18, was shot and killed during a police chase after officers said they saw a gun in his hand, and the auditor’s office plans to help answer questions about how the incident unfolded.
“We will be meeting with the auditor to make sure the auditor has all of our questions,” said Christy Lopez, co-chair of the D.C. Police Reform Commission. “What we’re going to do is have everybody on the commission put all of our requests in one place and give those directly to the auditor.”
The 20-member commission was formed in June through police reform legislation passed by the D.C. Council.
Its primary role is to review the police department’s policies and make recommendations to the council on how to improve policing in D.C. It does not have the power that the auditor’s office has to obtain documents, witness testimony, and audio and video recordings of the Kay shooting.
“The D.C. auditor can follow up on those lines of inquiry and make sure that information is obtained,” Lopez said.
One question Lopez said the auditor would look into is whether additional body camera video from the incident is available.
Police released video from just one camera — the one that was on the officer who shot Kay.
During a commission meeting two days after the shooting, police Chief Peter Newsham said that he did not have the authority to release video from any other cameras, a claim that members of the commission said was not accurate.
The commission questioned Newsham on other aspects of the shooting, including use of force and whether Kay was part of a gang.
Police said they responded Sept. 4 to reports of a man with a gun and found several people in and around a vehicle. According to police, two of the people ran away and one of them, identified as Kay, pulled out a gun while being pursued on foot. That’s when the officer fired and wounded Kay.
Kay was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
