Seattle Officer Terminated After Insensitive Remarks on Fatal Crash

A Seattle police officer, Daniel Auderer, was fired after making insensitive remarks and laughing about the death of Indian student Jaahnavi Kandula, who was struck and killed by another officer's speeding vehicle. Interim Chief Sue Rahr emphasized the importance of maintaining public trust when terminating Auderer's employment.

A Seattle police officer, whose insensitive comments and laughter following the death of an Indian student had caused outrage, has been terminated from his position.

Jaahnavi Kandula, 23, was tragically struck by a police vehicle driven by Seattle Police Officer Kevin Dave as she crossed a street on January 23. Dave was driving at 74 mph (more than 119 kmh) while responding to a report of a drug overdose. Kandula was thrown 100 feet as a result of the high-speed impact.

Bodycam footage released by the Seattle Police Department showed Officer Daniel Auderer laughing about the deadly incident and making callous remarks such as "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." Auderer further "laughed hard for four seconds," according to the Disciplinary Action Report.

Interim Chief Sue Rahr of the Seattle Police Department stated in an internal email that the pain inflicted on Kandula's family by Auderer's words "cannot be erased." She added, "The actions of this individual police officer have brought shame to the Seattle Police Department and our entire profession, making the job of every police officer more difficult."

As part of her commitment to uphold the department's high standards and maintain public trust, Rahr decided to terminate Auderer's employment. "For me to allow the officer to remain on our force would only bring further dishonour to the entire department," she stated in the internal email seen by PTI.

(With inputs from agencies.)