Kimani Gray

Kimani Gray, 16, a Black teenager, was shot seven times and killed by two plainclothes New York City police officers from the Brooklyn South Anti-Crime Patrol on March 9, 2013, in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, as he was walking home from a party. Police said Gray left a group when he saw an unmarked car, acted suspiciously when the officers approached, and pointed a .38-caliber revolver at them; a revolver was recovered at the scene. Gray's family and neighbors said he was not armed, and some accused the officers of planting a “drop gun.” The medical examiner found wounds to the front and back of his body. The shooting set off several nights of protests and dozens of arrests. In July 2014, Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson's office announced the officers would not be charged, and a source close to the case said prosecutors lacked enough evidence to indict. No one has ever been charged in Gray's death.

Brooklyn, NY · Kings County

• 2013: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• The shooting, the investigation, and the decision not to charge, per reporting by CBS New York, the New York Amsterdam News, NBC News, and a Brooklyn College journalism report on the family's civil suit.
• Gray was shot on March 9, 2013, in East Flatbush by two plainclothes officers of the Brooklyn South Anti-Crime Patrol, identified in later reporting as Sgt. Mourad Mourad and Officer Jovaniel Cordova; Gray was 16 and was returning home from a party.
• Police said Gray left a group when he saw an unmarked car, appeared suspicious as the officers approached, grabbed for something at his waistband, and pointed a .38-caliber revolver at them, and that both officers fired; a revolver was recovered at the scene.
• The medical examiner found Gray was hit seven times, with wounds to the front and back of his body; his family has pointed to the medical examiner's findings that most of his wounds were to his back as inconsistent with the police claim that he aimed a gun at the officers.
• Gray's family and neighbors said he was not in a gang and did not have a gun, said no witnesses saw him pull one, and some accused the officers of planting the revolver; the family demanded an independent investigation.
• Then-Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the shooting appeared to fall within the department's deadly-force guidelines, and the officers were placed on desk duty during the investigation.
• The shooting set off protests in East Flatbush that continued for several nights, with dozens of arrests when some demonstrations turned violent.
• In late July 2014, the Brooklyn District Attorney's office announced the officers would not be charged; a source close to the case told the Amsterdam News that the office lacked enough evidence to pursue an indictment and that some witnesses “would not talk.” Gray's mother said the case should at least have gone to a grand jury and asked for “a day in court.”
• The family filed a federal wrongful death suit against the two officers and unnamed medics, alleging among other things that Gray was denied prompt medical care; as of May 2015 discovery was ongoing, a magistrate judge had urged the parties to discuss settlement, and the city had paid $215,000 to settle earlier, unrelated lawsuits against the same two officers.

• Whether Gray pointed a revolver at the officers, as police said, or was unarmed, as his family maintains, was never tested at a criminal trial or put to a publicly reported grand jury, and was publicly disputed by the family, who questioned how the revolver came to be recovered.
• Whether the case was presented to a grand jury at all is not stated in the sources reviewed; the family said it should have been, and no indictment was ever announced.
• The outcome of the family's federal civil suit is not reported in the sources reviewed for this summary.

• CBS New York — “No Criminal Charges Coming For Officers Who Shot And Killed Kimani Gray, 16”
• New York Amsterdam News — “No indictment in Kimani Gray case”
• NBC News — “Funeral held for Brooklyn teen shot by police”
• Brooklyn College Journalism — “Family pursues lawsuit over Kimani Gray death”
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs