Newly released body cam footage shows the moment a Seattle police officer drove down a street while responding to a call and fatally struck a 23-year-old Northeastern University graduate student in the crosswalk.
The footage shows Officer Kevin Dave behind the wheel of his police cruiser driving at 74 mph — in a 25 mph zone — with no siren on before hitting Janhvi Kandula.
Kandula, was crossing the intersection of Dexter Avenue North and Thomas Street near the college campus on January 23. He died a day later in hospital.
Dave was heard calling radio dispatch for backup after reports of a pedestrian being hit. He was seen performing CPR on the young woman until several other first responders arrived on the scene.
Police ruled the incident an accident and the officer returned to duty just days later.
Janhvi Kandula, 23, who was from India and was studying at Northeastern University from 2021, was crossing the intersection of Dexter Avenue North and Thomas Street near the college campus on January 23.
Newly released bodycam footage shows Officer Kevin Dave performing CPR on victims after they hit him with his cruiser.
The bodycam footage was first published by Publicola. According to the news outlet, the King County Prosecutor’s Office is still deciding if Dave will be charged with a crime.
Crosswalks at intersections are marked with bright yellow reflective indicators, a large neon sign, and are surrounded by bicycle lanes and a wide median.
The officer was heard on the bodycam telling a responding officer, ‘The lights were on. I was blowing the siren…she was in the crosswalk.’
‘He saw me, he started running across the crosswalk. Slammed on my break. Starts to go back to where he should be before crossing over.’
The video shows the officer speeding through a red light and slowing slightly before hitting the young woman.
Dave was en route to a priority-one call, a call classified as the highest priority, according to the police department. The call was about a person who had overdosed on medication but did not require hospitalization.
The video recording also revealed intermittent sirens from the officer’s patrol car that were not continuous.
Police said they are not investigating the wreck as a case of use of force and noted that they do not believe the officer intended to hit Kandula.
“At this point in the investigation, we have no reason to believe that the officer intended to injure the woman,” a Seattle police spokeswoman previously said.
According to the department, Dave has served as an officer since November 2019.
Police said the officer was not fired but was asked to stop his shift after the crash as a ‘release day’ to deal with the ‘traumatic or upsetting’ experience.
Video footage shows the officer behind the wheel driving 74 mph in a 25 mph zone
The video shows the officer’s sirens going off intermittently before striking the victim
The officer involved in the collision has been identified as Kevin Dave, who has been with the Seattle Police Department since 2019. He was seen talking to other officers after the crash
After the incident, Seattle police said they would withhold information about the police report pending an investigation and were “in consultation” with Kandula’s family.
‘We recognize that there is understandably a great deal of interest in the surrounding events, but in order to protect the integrity of the investigation and respect the family’s right to privacy, information beyond what has already been provided will not be released,’ the department said in a statement to Newstimesuk.com.
‘We will provide all publicly available information, including the report, once we are able to do so, and in consultation with the family.’
‘We extend our deepest condolences to Ms Kandula’s family and friends This incident is a terrible tragedy for everyone involved,’ the department added.
Kandula, traveled from her native India to study at the university to pursue a master’s degree in information technology.
His devastated family described him as a ‘bright’ person.
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