US cop who laughed after Indian student's death fired

New York/ Seattle: A US police officer, whose insensitive comments and laughter following the horrific death of a 23-year-old Indian student had caused outrage, has been fired from the Seattle Police Department.

Jaahnavi Kandula was struck by a speeding police vehicle driven by Seattle Police Officer Kevin Dave as she was crossing a street on January 23 last year. Dave was driving at more than 119 kmph on the way to a report of a drug overdose call. Kandula was thrown 100 feet when she was struck by the speeding police patrol vehicle. In bodycam footage released by the Seattle Police Department, Officer Daniel Auderer was heard laughing after the deadly crash and had remarked: “Uh, I think she went up on the hood, hit the windshield, and then when he hit the brakes, flew off the car…But she is dead.” After making these comments, Auderer “laughed hard for four seconds,” the department's Disciplinary Action Report said.

Auderer's body-worn camera also captured him saying, “Yeah, just write a check. Just, yeah (laughter). USD 11,000. She was 26, anyway. She had limited value.”

The actions (of) this individual police officer have brought shame on the Seattle Police Department and our entire profession, making the job of every police officer more difficult.” Interim Chief Sue Rahr at the Seattle Police Department said that as the leader of the organisation, it is her duty to uphold the high standards necessary to maintain public trust. “For me to allow the officer to remain on our force would only bring further dishonour to the entire department. For that reason, I am going to terminate his employment,” she said in the internal email.