Video: Seattle Police Officer Laughs About Woman’s Injury, Killed By Patrol Car
Video: Seattle Police Officer Laughs About Woman’s Injury, Killed By Patrol Car
Authorities are investigating how a Seattle police officer responded to the death of a woman struck by a patrol car during an emergency response after shocking body cam video captured it.
Seattle – Authorities are investigating how a Seattle police officer responded to the death of a woman struck by a patrol car during an emergency response after shocking body cam video captured it.
Seattle police on Monday released body cam video from Officer Daniel Auder — who is the vice president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild — in which he can be heard insulting, joking and laughing at 23-year-old Janhvi Kandula, who suffered a stab wound. Crosswalk while police were responding to an overdose in the area.
“Preliminarily there’s — he said he was in a crosswalk, there’s a witness who said, ‘No he wasn’t,’ but it could be different, because I don’t think he was thrown 40 feet,” Audra said in the video. Seattle police confirmed.
Kandula was a student at Northeastern University who was killed on January 23, 2023. He was hit by a Seattle police car at the intersection of Dexter Ave N and Thomas St near South Lake Union.
Previous coverage: Body camera video shows pedestrian shot to death by Seattle police officer
Seattle police said the officer driving the patrol car was responding to a priority-one call when the incident occurred. The officer was going 74mph in a 25mph speed zone.
RAW: Bodycam video shows Seattle officer laughing at woman killed in crash
Bodycam video released by the Seattle Police Department captured an officer smiling as a woman was struck and killed by police during an emergency response. At one point the officer is heard saying, “He was 26 anyway, he had limited value.”
The SPD released a statement online that said, in part:
“The following video was identified in the routine course of business by a department employee who, concerned about the nature of the statements heard on the video, appropriately escalated their concerns through their chain of command to the Chief’s office, which, upon review, of the video, the context in which these statements were made, and any Referred the matter to OPA for an investigation into what policy violations may have been involved. This is required by department policy and the City’s accountability ordinance.”
“He’s dead,” Auderer says, then laughs. “No, it’s a regular person—yeah, yeah, just write a check, just, yeah,” he laughed again, “for $11,000. However, he was 26, his worth was limited.”
Previous coverage: Dispatch call reveals more details of woman’s injuries, killed by patrol car as SPD remains tight-lipped
The SPD also said:
“While an incident of public concern is under OPA, SPD, or OIG review, no City employee, in their official or personal capacity, should comment in such a way as to reach any factual, policy, or legal conclusion about the incident.”
The Office of Police Accountability is investigating.
FOX 13 News has reached out to Seattle police for further comment, but has not yet heard back.
