US police, paramedics erred before Elijah McClain death: Inquiry

McClain, a 23-year-old unarmed Black man, died after being restrained by police and injected with ketamine in 2019.

Police and paramedics made several errors during the 2019 stop in Colorado of 23-year-old Elijah McClain that led to the unarmed Black man’s death, a report by independent investigators released on Monday said. Police had no legal basis to stop McClain, who was walking home from a convenience store, to search him, or to use a chokehold on him when they approached him on August 24 in the Denver suburb of Aurora, the report said. McClain went into cardiac arrest after he was subdued by three police officers during the encounter and injected with ketamine, a sedative, by paramedics, according to authorities. He died days later in the hospital.