Baltimore police said Wednesday that their internal report into the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African-American man who died in police custody this month, wouldn't be made public.
Police Commissioner Anthony Batts had set a deadline of Friday to file the report with state investigators, leading to hopes among activists and Gray's family that more details of his death from a spinal injury would emerge. Investigators haven't said how Gray was injured.
Baltimore police Capt. Eric Kowalczyk said Wednesday night that the report would remain sealed to protect the integrity of the inquiry. He said Batts' deadline was his way of "saying we were going to move with a sense of urgency."
Kowalczyk said he understood that "as we've gotten closer to that date, the concern and the questions have begun to build up." But he said on MSNBC-TV's "The Last Word": "There is evidence that has to be preserved, so we have tried to find the balance of releasing as much information as we can. For us right now, it's about conducting an accurate, timely investigation."
The most important thing, he said, is to ensure that "the evidence is saved for any kind of prosecution that may or may not happen."
"We want answers in this case, but we want to make sure it's done correctly," he said.
IN-DEPTH
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