Police in Durham, North Carolina have presented the preliminary findings from an internal investigation regarding the alleged suicide of Jesus Huerta, a 17 year old, who reportedly took his own life while detained in the back of a squad car. Huerta was arrested after being reported missing by his sister and providing false information to police regarding his identity.
According to an article by The New York Daily News, the preliminary report states that Huerta was the first person to be placed in the squad car that night and that the car had been searched twice, once by the officer who had driven on the previous shift and a second time by Samuel Duncan, the officer who arrested Huerta.
The report also states that when Huerta fired the fatal shot, Duncan got out of the cruiser while it was still in motion due to thinking that he was being fired at. The cruiser came to rest after striking a tree. The center of controversy in this investigation is that the weapon used by Huerta to shoot himself in the head is the same large caliber service weapon used by the Durham police department.
Controversy has also erupted over whether or not Huerta would have been able to accurately aim and discharge the weapon while handcuffed, but investigators have released a video showing an officer who was able to position himself in such a manner to make it possible.
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