New information about Elijah McClain’s death has been revealed earlier today.
An independent investigation revealed that the officers of the Aurora police department had no legal basis to restrain McClain as he was walking home from the store.
According to the investigation report, officers were responding to a call about a suspicious person walking in the neighborhood. McClain was approached by officers without accusing him of committing a crime. The report also states, “This decision had ramifications for the rest of the encounter.”
The officers involved failed to establish a reasonable suspicion towards McClain. The investigative report said “whenever an officer uses forceful techniques on someone, then their decision to conduct an investigatory stop based on reasonable suspicion generally leads to an arrest, however, the officers failed to do so.”
This investigation also put the paramedics at fault, who arrived on the scene and accepted the officers’ assessment explaining McClain’s behavior, and for giving McClain a large amount of ketamine that exceeded the acceptable dosage for someone of his weight.”
McClain, who weighed 140 pounds, was given 500 milligrams of ketamine which is suitable for someone who weighs 190 pounds. Elijah McClain went into cardiac arrest while on his way to the hospital and was later declared brain dead. On August 30, he was taken off of life support.