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Request filed with DOJ to review Denkins case, family says

The family of a man shot and killed in February by a Raleigh police officer said on Saturday they filed a request with the U.S. Department of Justice to review the case as a civil rights violation.

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RALEIGH, N.C. — The family of a man shot and killed in February by a Raleigh police officer said on Saturday they filed a request with the U.S. Department of Justice to review the case as a civil rights violation.

Denkins' family along with the North Carolina NAACP said in a press conference that the report released by the Wake County District Attorney's Office presented inconsistencies with the way Akiel Denkins was shot. DA Lorrin Freeman said on Wednesday that Raleigh police officer D.C. Twiddy shot Denkins in self defense and would not face criminal charges.

Irv Joyner, an attorney for the NAACP, said the trajectory of the bullets through Denkins body indicated that he was shot in the back. The state's investigation, though, said Twiddy and Denkins were involved in a struggle when Denkins reached for a gun and was shot by Twiddy.

"It is important for us to remember that Akiel did not attack Officer Twiddy," said Priscilla McKoy, an attorney for Denkins' family.

McKoy said the family is still asking for anyone with relevant information about the shooting to come forward.

Joyner did not know what the timeline for the DOJ's investigation would be.

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