Baltimore police hand prosecutors Freddie Gray file

Baltimore police in the US state of Maryland have handed state prosecutors the findings of an internal investigation into the death of a black man who suffered spinal injuries while in custody, officials said. 

Freddie Gray, 25, died on April 19, sparking protests in Baltimore, Maryland’s largest city.

The report was turned over to the state’s attorney a day earlier than expected, Police Commissioner Anthony Batts told a news conference on Thursday.

Batts told reporters that during the course of the investigation, 30 detectives were dedicated to focus on the case as their “full-time job”.  

The commissioner stressed that the investigation is still not over and that “if new evidence is found, we will follow it,” going on to say that Gray’s family and the community “deserve transparency and truth”.  

“I understand the frustration and the sense of urgency,” Batts said.  

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Baltimore Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said at the same news conference that officials had discovered, as part of their investigation, that the police van carrying Gray had made a second stop, which was found on a privately owned security camera. 

Officials had previously said that the van transporting Gray had made at least one stop. He did not elaborate further.    

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Prosecutors have said they would conduct their own probe before deciding whether to charge six police officers involved in the arrest of Gray on April 12.  

Batts made the announcement the morning after an overnight curfew in Baltimore held for a second night.

Looting, arson and street clashes with police had roiled the city on Monday after Gray’s funeral.  

Protests over police violence spread to other major cities on Wednesday, a reprise of demonstrations that broke out last year after killings of unarmed black men in Ferguson, Missouri, New York and elsewhere.  

More than 100 people were arrested in New York overnight on Wednesday as protesters fanned out across Manhattan after a rally, briefly disrupting traffic in places.

In the mostly black city of Baltimore on Thursday morning, thousands of National Guard troops and police remained in place to maintain order and enforce the 10pm curfew.