Body Camera Exposes Seattle Police Laughing At Indian-Origin Student's Death

Seattle Police officer lands in trouble after a body camera exposes the officer bursting into laughter over the death of an Indian-origin woman. The Seattle Police directed an investigation against the Seattle police union leaders in connection with the issue.

A video recorded by the body camera shows Seattle Police Officers' Guild Vice President Daniel Auderer bursts into laughter during his conversation with the guild's president while discussing the accident of the Indian-origin woman Jaahnavi Kandula who was killed by Auderer's colleague Kevin Deve on January 23.

In the clip, Auderer can be heard saying, "She is dead" before bursting out into laughter and calling Kandula "a regular person". He further said to write a check of eleven thousand dollars.

Expressing grief over the tragic death of Kandula, the Seattle Community Police Commission (CPC) in a statement on Monday said conversation between Auderer and his colleague was heartbreaking and shockingly insensitive after the video was released.

Meanwhile, the Seattle police department, denied commenting on the video until the complete investigation of the incident.

Kandula was a master's student at Northeastern University's Seattle campus who was killed by Officer Kevin Dave on January 23. She hailed from Andhra Pradesh's Kurnool district and was all set to receive a master's degree in information systems this December.

Kandula died after colliding with a Seattle police patrol vehicle in South Lake Union. According to the Seattle police department, the officer driving the marked patrol SUV was travelling northbound on Dexter Avenue North while talking over the phone with Seattle Fire Department to a "priority one call." Kandula was crossing from east to west in the crosswalk when the vehicle hit her.

Auderer reported the officer was driving his car at 50 MPH and was not ''out of control''. However, the police investigation reported that the speed of the car was at 74 MPH when it hit Kandula. According to the King County Medical Examiner's Office, the cause of death was multiple blunt-force injuries.