By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
WASHINGTON – U.S. Park Police detectives won’t face any criminal action in connection with the fatal shooting in D.C. in 2009.
The Justice Department announced Friday that it found “insufficient evidence” to pursue federal criminal civil rights charges against U.S. Park Police detectives involved in the fatal shooting of Trey Joyner, 24, in an alley in Northeast Washington.
The Justice Department said representatives of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, which help investigate the D.C. shooting, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the FBI’s Washington Field Office met with the Joyner family and their representatives to inform them of the findings. The Pennsylvania U.S. Attorney’s Office was involved instead of the D.C. office because of a potential conflict of interest.
“The investigation reviewed all of the material and evidence generated by the Washington Field Office of the FBI, including witness statements, crime scene evidence, ballistics reports and medical reports,” the Justice Department said in a statement.
Trey Joyner’s mother, Brenda Joyner, responded to the findings, according to the Washington Post, by saying: “My concern is justice. We are still looking for justice.”
“We did not get the truth.”
Authorities found that U.S. Park Police detectives were trying to question Joyner about a homicide investigation.
The Department said “officers had credible information that Mr. Joyner was armed. Upon stopping his vehicle, Mr. Joyner began to flee, but turned back to his car to retrieve a handgun that had dropped to the ground as he exited.”
“Civilian and police witnesses either saw or heard the gun hitting the ground and a loaded handgun with a round in the chamber was found near the location where Mr. Joyner was shot. As Mr. Joyner picked the gun up off of the ground, a detective ran to Mr. Joyner and grabbed him and a brief struggle ensued.
“The witness statements support that Mr. Joyner pointed the loaded gun at the detective during this struggle, and that he ignored repeated commands to drop the gun.
“The detective then fired his own gun, striking Mr. Joyner in his torso at close range. The detective fell back as other officers fired their weapons.
“Forensic examination of gunshot wounds to Mr. Joyner indicate that one of the fatal wounds came from close range fire to his torso consistent with the struggle described by officers. Contrary to some civilian witness statements that Mr. Joyner was shot in the back as he was fleeing, the autopsy revealed wounds to Mr. Joyner consistent with the officers’ version that Mr. Joyner spun around following an initial close-range shot during a struggle.”
