Outrage as a US police officer with a body camera made a joke about the death of an Indian student killed by a police car while crossing the street

A US police officer was caught on tape laughing at the tragic death of an Indian student who was hit by a patrol car.

Officer Daniel Auderer was the first to respond after his colleague hit 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula as she crossed a street in Seattle.

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Kandula, a master’s student at Northeastern University, died in January of this year from multiple blunt force injuries.

In newly discovered bodycam footage, Auderer can be heard briefly saying, “She’s dead,” before bursting into laughter.

“It’s a normal person,” he continues mockingly.

“Just write a check. Just, yeah, $11,000. She was 26 anyway. She had limited value.

The officer can be heard laughing several more times and then defends the speed at which his colleague, officer Kevin Dave, was driving.

“He was driving 50 miles per hour, which is not reckless for a trained driver,” Officer Auderer said.

Although, a report The Seattle Times revealed that officer Dave was driving at a speed of 75 mph in a 25 mph zone. The impact of the collision sent Kandula flying 100 feet.

The Seattle Community Police Commission, a municipal oversight agency that oversees Seattle police, released a statement calling Officer Auderer’s comments “heartbreaking and shockingly insensitive.”

“The people of Seattle deserve better from a police department whose mission is to increase community trust and ensure public safety.”

The King County Prosecutor’s Office is currently conducting a criminal investigation into the crash.

And Seattle’s Office of Police Accountability has now launched an official investigation into the context in which Auderer’s comments were made.

According to radio host Jason Rantz, his show on KTTH-AM was able to obtain the written statement that Auderer submitted to Seattle’s Office of Police Accountability.

Rantz reported that Auderer claimed the comments were “not made out of malice or a good heart,” but “quite the opposite.”

“I laughed at how ridiculous the way these incidents are litigated is and how ridiculous it is how these incidents are playing out while two parties are negotiating a tragedy.”

The doctoral student had worked to support her single mother in India. Now only her body can be sent back.

Her uncle told the Seattle Times: “I wonder if these men’s daughters and granddaughters have any value. A life is a life.”

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