Baltimore police investigators worked long hours without days off to ensure a quick resolution in the probe of how Freddie Gray died after being taken into police custody.
Still, they were caught by surprise when they saw Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby on television officially announcing charges against six police officers on Friday morning,
The Baltimore Sun reports.
The newspaper was granted exclusive access to the investigation on the condition it agreed not to report on it publicly until Mosby decided whether to prosecute the six officers involved in the arrest of Gray, a 25-year-old black man.
As a result, a reporter was on hand late last week as members of the task force were told to keep working.
"We're still going strong as far as this task force is concerned. We have to fight fatigue," said Maj. Stanley Brandford, the Homicide Unit commander who headed up the task force. "I feel confident we have a solid case here but we still have things to do."
More work remained on Friday, the Sun reported, and the task force was set to go straight through the weekend "feeding supplemental reports to Mosby's office, and the investigation was to remain active indefinitely."
Brandford told his team it was "Important that the state's attorney continue to get things as we collect them."
Brandford's cellphone rang and he left the room.
Mosby was holding her press conference, and the team watched on television.
The team members "stood motionless" as Mosby spoke, reporter Justin George wrote. As she read the off the charges, including second-degree depraved-heart murder against van driver Caesar Goodson, "stunned looks crossed their faces."
Mosby explained later that the charges were the result of prosecutors working alongside the police investigators in a "parallel investigation."
"This was not something that was quick, fast and in a hurry," she said. "We reviewed hundreds of hours of camera footage and statements. This is something we worked really hard to get to the bottom of."
But more tasks remained on the police task force's investigation, and its members went back to work when Mosby's announcement was over.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.