( CNN ) - Three Memphis Fire Department employees have been fired, and a total of seven police officers have been placed on leave as a result of the fatal police beating of black driver Tyre Nichols. Critics around the country have called for police reform.
According to Memphis Fire Chief Gina Sweat on Monday, two emergency medical technicians and a fire department lieutenant were fired for their responses to Nichols' January 7 interaction with members of a now-disbanded police department unit.
Police pulled over Nichols after first charging him with careless driving. The guy escaped after being yanked out of his car by police, who also used pepper spray and a Taser to try to make him fall to the ground, according to police body cams and surveillance footage.
Officers caught up with him minutes later at a different location and continuously kicked or hit him.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation claims that three days later, he succumbed to his injuries. The assault has heightened public condemnation of US police force use, especially when it involves people of color.
The fire department said on Monday that emergency medical technicians Robert Long and JaMichael Sandridge, as well as fire Lt. Michelle Whitaker, had been sacked.
Based on both the first call, in which they heard someone had been pepper sprayed, and the information they were given at the scene, an investigation found that the two EMTs "failed to conduct an effective patient evaluation of Mr. Nichols" after responding, Sweat said in a press release.
According to the chief's account, Whitaker had stayed in the fire vehicle. The two EMTs were suspended pending an internal inquiry, according to a statement made by the fire department earlier this month.
When the EMTs' truck got to the second incident, it found Nichols lying on the ground leaning up against a police car at around 8:41. The truck then called for an ambulance at 8:46, according to the fire department.
According to the fire department, Nichols was taken by ambulance 13 minutes after it arrived at 8:55 p.m.
The pole-camera footage, which was made public on Friday, reveals that between the time the EMTs and the ambulance arrived, first responders frequently backed away from Nichols while the victim occasionally fell onto his side.
Additionally, on Monday, the police department disclosed that seven officers—two more than initially disclosed—had been placed on leave the day following the incident.
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