Taser death probe nears end

The sheriff’s office is conducting one of the investigations, focusing on whether the deputy involved was justified in using a Taser stun gun during the Nov. 18 incident. The Frederick Police Department is reviewing the circumstances of Gray’s death.

‘‘We have got a lot of pertinent facts and have been able to verify some details through witness statements, radio transmissions and other sources,” Jenkins said Wednesday. ‘‘We’re getting close to winding down [the investigations].”

The sheriff said he may also be ready by Friday to release the name of the deputy who fired an X26 Taser at Gray while breaking up a fight on Gresham Court East on Nov. 18.

To date, Jenkins has only identified the deputy as a 13-year corporal, and an ‘‘experienced veteran” of the sheriff’s office who remains on administrative leave with pay.

Jenkins said he has withheld the identity of the employee due to ‘‘officer safety” following the incident.

Gray died after a deputy administered a pair of shocks with a Taser stun gun 23 seconds apart. Police said Gray refused to comply with demands to stop participating in a fight and raise his hands.

Gray was pronounced dead at Frederick Memorial Hospital more than two hours after the deputy responded to the scene of the fight.

Jenkins said toxicology results for Gray are still pending from the Office of the Medical Examiner in Baltimore. He does not expect they will be ready by Friday.

The sheriff would also not comment on a quote from Gray’s mother, Tanya Thomas, in last week’s Gazette that the deputy was not alone on the scene when he fired his Taser.

‘‘[At the press conference], we’ll let everyone see where people in our department were when things happened, where the backup [deputies] were and a timeline,” he said. ‘‘There will be new ... accurate information to define whether or not [the deputy] was alone.”

Two days after Gray’s death, the Frederick County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) called for the sheriff’s office to suspend Taser use until training and risks associated with the devices were addressed.

The group has called for an independent investigation by the U.S. Justice Department and Maryland Attorney General into the circumstances of Gray’s death.

Guy Djoken, NAACP chapter president, said following the press conference he met with Jenkins. Djoken said the pair had ‘‘a very positive dialogue.”

Djoken said while many are viewing the chapter’s concerns as a racial issue, it is more a civil rights issue.

‘‘A lot of people are under the belief that the NAACP protects just minority rights, but we protect all civil rights,” he said. ‘‘... We look at any use [of the Taser] as unwarranted.”

Djoken called Tasers ‘‘a deadly weapon” that need clear guidelines of ‘‘how and when to be used.”

‘‘We all want to have peace,” Djoken said. ‘‘We all want the same thing — a community where people are not afraid. We want people to trust the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office and for the sheriff’s office to trust us.”

Jenkins agreed the meeting with Djoken and another with chapter members on Friday was positive.

‘‘[The NAACP] certainly has their opinions [regarding Tasers] and I respect that, but I don’t agree with everything they said ... especially regarding taking them off the streets,‘‘ Jenkins said.

Sheriff’s deputies continue to use the X26 Tasers, most recently on Saturday, during a domestic dispute in Frederick.

According to the sheriff’s office, Deputy First Class Mark Cullember administered two shocks to 45-year-old Raymond Metz of Frederick when he did not comply with deputies’ commands following a domestic dispute.

Metz was not hospitalized following the event and was taken to the Frederick County Adult Detention Center for booking.

The incident marks the 28th time deputies have used the X26 Taser this year and the 71st time since the sheriff’s office implemented the ‘‘less-lethal” devices in 2005.