A U.S. Park Police officer fatally shot 17-year-old Dalaneo Martin in Northeast D.C. last month. The Park Police patrol River Terrace park, near the site of the shooting.

Elvert Barnes / Flickr

D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Park Police have both released video footage of the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Dalaneo Martin, who was killed by a U.S. Park Police officer in Northeast D.C. last month.

The circumstances of the shooting prompted outrage from Martin’s family and other community members. He was shot on the morning of March 18 after being found asleep in what officers suspected was a stolen vehicle. Officers were attempting to apprehend Martin when he woke up and accelerated, driving off with a Park Police officer inside. The officer shot him and he was pronounced dead on the scene after crashing into a nearby building.

Police offered sparse details about the shooting before Tuesday, and did not explain why a Park Police officer was inside the vehicle.

“Several people made mistakes that day and only one person suffers the consequences is [Martin], because he lost his life,” said Nee Nee Taylor, co-founder of the local abolitionist group Harriet’s Wildest Dreams, after the shooting. “Instead of clearing the car, or trying to shine a light on a person, make a noise, use the machine [to say] ‘hands up, police don’t move’ or even snatch them out of the car…it was a startle, it was an ambush.”

The body camera videos, released Tuesday afternoon, depict the lead-up to the shooting and the killing itself.

The incident began just before 9 a.m. that morning, when an MPD officer responded to a call about a suspicious vehicle in the 3400 block of Baker Street Northeast. The officer saw a vehicle parked, running, and occupied, with Martin asleep at the wheel. The officer determined that the vehicle was stolen after he ran the tag, according to MPD.

The video MPD released Tuesday shows the officer who first responded to the scene calling for units over the radio. He also flagged down nearby U.S. Park Police for assistance.

Once additional officers arrived at the scene, the MPD video shows them discussing their plan for approaching the car. One MPD officer told the group he planned to reach inside a rear window of the car to unlock it.

“We’re going to try to get in there, grab him before he puts that car into gear,” he said.

He also gave the other officers an instruction not to chase Martin if he took off, and not to enter the car.

“If he does [get startled], if he takes off, just let him go,” the officer added. “But don’t get inside that car.”

The officers opened up the car, and Martin woke up. The footage doesn’t clearly show the struggle between Martin and officers, but within seconds, Martin yelled “Ah, ah,” and “Get off me,” and started driving the car. When he drove off, a U.S. Park Police officer was in the back seat of the vehicle. Another Park Police officer was also momentarily dragged by the car as Martin drove it away.

In the narration of the body camera video, the U.S. Park Police said the officer who shot Martin had entered the vehicle “to assist the Metropolitan Police Department with detaining the driver.”

The video clearly shows the vantage point of the officer in the backseat of the car.

“Stop man, just let me out,” the officer said. Then, two seconds later, he added, “stop, stop, or I’ll shoot.” He discharged his weapon within a second of warning he would shoot. He fired at least five shots at Martin’s back.

The car crashed into a house immediately after; no one in the home was injured, police said. The 17-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.

In a statement issued Thursday, the union representing the Park Police said that while Martin’s death was “tragic,” the incident “could have ended much differently… had Martin just complied.”

As with all fatal police shootings in the District, the incident is under investigation by MPD and the U.S. Attorney for D.C. The U.S. Park Police have not released the name of the officer who shot Martin or the other USPP officer who was at the scene; In response to an inquiry from WAMU/DCist, a spokesperson for the department said that “due to privacy protections afforded to federal employees, we are unable to release the officers’ names.”

Affectionately known to his loved ones as “Debo,” Martin had an infant son and nine siblings.

“Dalaneo brought so much joy to those around him with his playful spirit and love for his family,” his loved ones wrote in a GoFundMe raising money for funeral expenses. “He will be deeply missed by all who knew him.”

At a press conference with their attorneys on Wednesday, Martin’s family addressed the release of the video footage.

“Seeing the video yesterday of my son being murdered, I’m lost. My kids have got to endure seeing their brother murdered all over national TV,” Martin’s mother, Terra Martin, told reporters Wednesday. “Time and time again, I sit and I try to get my head wrapped around this, and I can’t. I don’t sleep. I don’t eat. And justice needs to be served.”

Terra Martin said the medical examiner’s office told her that her son was shot six times and died instantly. She said she wants Park Police to immediately release the name of the officer who shot her son, and she wants all officers involved in the shooting to be charged with murder.

Wearing a T-shirt with the words “Justice for ‘Debo’” on it, she described her son as her “protector,” and as a teenager who had decided to approach his life differently after the birth of his own son.

“When he had his son, it changed his life. He wanted to start doing things different,” she said. “That’s my protector. You took my protector away. He loved his siblings. They were very close … I watch his videos of him always dancing, he always dancing. Always talking about, ‘Stop recording me, ma. Stop taking a picture of me, ma.’ He’s my baby. That’s my baby.”

According to a statement released by the family’s lawyers shortly after the shooting, Martin’s mother had “begged” the D.C. government for services to help her son, but had not received help.

“This pain hurts so bad,” she said on Wednesday. “I just want justice for my son.”

This story has been updated with comments from Dalaneo Martin’s mother, Terra Martin, and also with a statement from the U.S. Park Police union.