State police investigators lay out evidence in Dreasjon Reed shooting
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Minutes after a special prosecutor announced Tuesday that a grand jury had decided not to indict an Indianapolis Metropolitan police officer in the May fatal shooting of Dreasjon Reed, Indiana State Police shared their findings and additional evidence in their investigation of the case.
The special prosecutor
Rosemary Khoury, the special prosecutor, shared new insight about the emotional toll of the investigation while announcing the grand jury’s decision.
“I’m a mother of two Black boys,” Khoury said, blinking back tears. “I also am very empathetic toward Officer Mercer. I know that had to be a difficult position to be in.”
She contacted Reed’s mother shortly after a Marion County judge appointed her to the case in June and vowed to oversee a “thorough and impartial” investigation.
Khoury said she kept her promise and maintained her objectivity but her pain was evident when she announced the grand jury had found insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against Mercer.
She called it a “sad situation” and reminded community members “no one wins here.”
Khoury is a deputy prosecutor in Madison County and a former deputy for the Indiana Attorney General’s Office.
The Indiana State Police investigation
Indiana State Police started by progressing through the hourlong video Reed streamed live on his Facebook the day he was killed.
They added additional surveillance video from the public library and Ace Lock and Key off 62nd Street and Michigan Road. That footage was matched side by side with Reed’s cellphone to paint a better picture of the incident.
“You’re going to see Mr. Reed pull into the Ace Lock and Key right here, he’s gonna pull around back, get out of his vehicle and get out and run,” explained Lt. Jeff Herron.
As the video continued, you could see Reed reaching for his waist as Officer Dejoure Mercer ran after him.
Then police shared another view of the same video, this time from Reed’s phone where you can see the gun in his waistband and his hand reaching for it.
Video captured on Reed’s livestream also showed him falling to the ground after being tased.
Herron explained why that wasn’t effective.
“This is in the left shoulder, this is in the shorts and what we have here is he didn’t get a complete circuit. So in a taser you basically get a probe in each area and it locks up the body and in this case he gets an intermittent tase,” said Herron.
In total, police said 15 rounds were fired, two from Reed’s gun, the other 13 from the officer’s.
Lt. Herron was not able to say who shot first.
“I don’t think we can definitively. What we can say is that, I think definitively, is that Mr. Reed fired two shots at the scene.”
Herron said the reason police moved the gun from Reed’s hand is because EMTs will not respond if the suspect is still holding a firearm.
The video of the officer moving the gun was also shared with us.
Police were able to trace Reed’s gun back to a pawn shop in Texas, where they later learned he stole it.
They said while in his possession, the gun has been used in other crimes in Indianapolis.
“In our analysis of Mr. Reed’s phone, we found a text thread indicating he did a couple meaning two drive-by shootings,” said Herron.
Investigators matched the dates with IMPD’s records and compared evidence which included shell casings from Reed’s gun.