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| Jesus Huerta |
(Scroll down for video) A teenager in Durham, North Carolina, killed himself while he was handcuffed on the way to jail.
According to police, Jesus Huerta, 17, died when he shot himself in the head while handcuffed.
Officer Samuel Duncan, who arrested Huerta, claims that he did a proper pat down on the teen before he placed him into the squad car.
Somehow, the teen still managed to access a hidden handgun. He shot and killed himself in the back of the officer’s car.
The Huerta family and their community are demanding a federal investigation of the incident.
They want answers. They don’t believe that it was possible for the teen to shoot himself while in handcuffs in a patrol car.
Huerta's sister, Evelin Huerta, said that her brother did not have a gun when he was arrested.
"I know that it is hard for people who are not in law enforcement to understand how someone is capable of shooting themselves with their hands handcuffed behind their back," Durham police chief Jose Lopez said.
"While incidents like this are not common, they unfortunately have happened in other jurisdictions in the past," he said.