The Baltimore Police Department on Tuesday identified the six officers who have been suspended in the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who was taken to a hospital with a severed spinal cord after being chased and arrested.
Mr. Gray died Sunday, a week after his arrest.
Lt. Brian Rice was the senior officer involved, and officials have said it was a lieutenant on the scene, part of a team of officers patrolling on bicycles, who made eye contact with two men — one of them Mr. Gray — before they fled on foot, prompting the officers to pursue them. Lieutenant Rice, 41, is an 18-year veteran of the department.
Officer Garrett Miller filled out the “statement of charges” for arresting Mr. Gray, accusing him of carrying a switchblade knife, clipped to the inside of his pants pocket. Officer Miller, 26, a member of the department since 2012, wrote, “The defendant was arrested without force or incident.”
The others suspended are Sgt. Alicia White, 30, who joined the department in 2010; Officer William Porter, 25, who joined in 2012; Officer Edward Nero, 29, who joined in 2012; and Officer Caesar Goodson, 45, who joined in 1999.
Baltimore officials have moved quickly to release information, and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts have promised a thorough and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mr. Gray’s death.
Mr. Batts said the Police Department would finish its inquiry on May 1 and turn it over to the state’s attorney to determine whether criminal charges should be filed.
Police investigators said they still do not understand precisely how — or when — Mr. Gray was injured.
Ms. Rawlings-Blake has indicated that the injury probably occurred after Mr. Gray was placed in the van.
Mr. Batts conceded that officers had been slow to recognize that Mr. Gray, who apparently had asthma, needed medical attention; before he was put in the van, he asked for his inhaler, which he did not have with him.
“We should have probably asked for paramedics” sooner, the commissioner said.
The officers involved were suspended with pay pending the outcome of the investigation.