Police in Memphis have revealed that the body of a shooting victim remained undetected inside an impounded van at the department’s lot for seven weeks.
Memphis Police Department Director Michael Rallings called Monday’s belated discovery ‘unacceptable’ and said an internal investigation has been opened.
‘The victims deserve better, the family members of the victims deserve better and our citizens deserve better,’ Rallings said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Too late: Police in Memphis have revealed that the body of a shooting victim remained undetected inside this white van at the department’s impound lot for seven weeks
The unnamed victim was shot and killed during a botched robbery on December 18 (screenshot from CCTV video shows the heist)
According to police, three robbers opened fire on the white van after two men resisted robbery on December 18 in the 3000 block of Yale Avenue.
The 47-year-old driver, identified by Fox 13 only as ‘Pablo,’ was shot multiple times, but a 55-year-old passenger was uninjured. Police say they have since lost contact with the latter.
Police were unable to interview Pablo until January 22 at the hospital because of the severity of his injuries. Rallings told reporters the 47-year-old eventually told investigators he had been in the van with one other person.
But during his interview with Fox 13 on Tuesday, Pablo directly contradicted Rallings’ statement, insisting that he told an investigator from his hospital bed that ‘there were two different people with me.’
When quizzed about this discrepancy in the narratives, Rallings told the station that it’s now part of the investigation, but maintained that a preliminary review of the evidence did not support Pablo’s claim.
Survivor: The 47-year-old driver of the van, named Pablo (left) was critically injured by survived and made the grisly discovery when he went to pick up his van on Monday
Top cop: Memphis Police Department Director Michael Rallings called Monday’s belated discovery ‘unacceptable’ and said an internal investigation has been opened
After the shooting, the van was taken to the MPD impound lot on Klinke Avenue. When Pablo finally made his way to the lot at 2pm on Monday to pick up his vehicle, he looked in the backseat and found the deceased man with a gunshot wound.
Rallings told reporters an autopsy will determine if the unnamed victim could have survived had he been found sooner.
So far, police have not identified or arrested any of the three robbers in connection to the botched van heist.
Rallings has not ruled out the possibility of disciplinary action, depending on the outcome of the internal investigation.