Freddie Gray Was Trying To Hurt Himself, Prisoner In Van Says [Breaking]

Freddie Gray was allegedly trying to hurt himself as he was transported away in a police van the day he was arrested, a prisoner who was traveling in the same van says.

The bombshell revelation comes as the city of Baltimore continues to live under a tense situation and a state of emergency has been declared. This is a result of violent clashes between people disturbing the peace following Gray’s funeral Monday.

Freddie Gray, 25, died in police custody after allegedly having his spine severed while resisting arrest. His death has created violent riots in Baltimore, where the incident took place.

An exclusive report from the Washington Post indicates that a prisoner — who was sharing the van in which Freddie Gray was being transported — told investigators that he could hear Gray “banging against the walls” of the vehicle and believed that he “was intentionally trying to injure himself,” according to an investigative document obtained by the publication.

“The prisoner, who is currently in jail, was separated from Gray by a metal partition and could not see him. His statement is contained in an application for a search warrant, which is sealed by the court. The Post was given the document under the condition that the prisoner not be named because the person who provided it feared for the inmate’s safety.

The document, written by a Baltimore police investigator, offers the first glimpse of what might have happened inside the van. It is not clear whether any additional evidence backs up the prisoner’s version.”

A friend of one of the police officers who arrested Freddie Gray spoke anonymously to Anderson Cooper and said that the suspect was not shackled or restrained in the van because officers were not able to bring him under control. Gray was found unconscious in the van when it arrived at a police station on April 12. The 25-year-old was left in a coma and died a week later.

Baltimore police had said that the results of an internal investigation into Gray’s death would be made public on Friday. However, they have now retracted that decision and will not release the information. Captain Eric Kowalczyk, chief spokesman for the Baltimore Police Department, declined to comment on the affidavit, citing the ongoing investigation.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts has admitted flaws in the way his officers handled Gray, who in videos taken by several bystanders was heard screaming in pain. Two officers are seen putting their knees on Freddie Gray’s back and then loading his limp body into the van. The new revelations, however, indicate that Gray may have harmed himself. More on this breaking news as it becomes available.

[Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images]