The FBI's civil rights division is investigating the police-action shooting death of Ball State student Michael McKinney.
Casey Stavropoulos, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Justice, confirmed Friday that the investigation is "an open matter under review" but would not comment further about the nature of the investigation.
A representative from the FBI's civil rights division sent a letter to Erica McKinney, Michael McKinney's sister-in-law, indicating that the investigation has been opened in response to a complaint she made to them in January.
"We're happy that there's at least a step in somebody else investigating the case," Katie McKinney, Michael McKinney's sister, said. "The more people that look at the case, the better for us."
The civil rights division of the FBI monitors police misconduct, hate crimes, Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances and slavery, according to its Web site.
Heather Shupp, executive director of University Communications, said the FBI notified Ball State's Department of Public Safety about the investigation near the beginning of April. Shupp pointed out that it is the bureau's protocol to investigate every civil rights complaint they receive.
"The opening of this investigation does not necessarily mean that the Department of Justice believes this complaint has any merit," Shupp said.
Stavropoulos said all complaints receive an initial review. Then, officials decide if there is enough evidence to merit a further review. She would not say what stage the McKinney investigation currently is in. However, the letter Erica McKinney received from the FBI said "The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been requested to obtain additional information about this matter which will be reviewed by attorneys in the civil rights division."
Michael McKinney was shot and killed on the morning of Nov. 8, 2003, by University Police officer Robert Duplain. McKinney had been banging on the back door of a home on North Street, and the woman living there had called 911. McKinney's friends say he was likely confused and thought the woman's house belonged to a friend of his.
Police officials say Duplain and other UPD officers responded to the call, but Duplain was the first officer to reach the backyard. According to reports, he identified himself and told McKinney to freeze, but McKinney ran at him with arms outstretched. Duplain then shot McKinney three times in the chest and once in the head.
Duplain was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing by a Delaware County grand jury in December. However, the McKinneys filed a civil lawsuit against Ball State University in February, specifically targeting Duplain and University Police Chief Gene Burton. In the suit, the McKinneys say Duplain and Burton violated McKinney's constitutional rights to be free from unreasonable search and seizure and to be free of loss of his physical liberty and life.
Katie McKinney said the FBI investigation is separate from the lawsuit and that the McKinneys' lawyer, Geoffrey Fieger, has kept his distance from the investigation.
"The actual lawsuit is very separate," Katie McKinney said.
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