A grand jury has indicted 3 officers and 2 paramedics on manslaughter charges in the death of Elijah McClain

• A grand jury indicted three officers and two paramedics in connection with the death of Elijah McClain, the state's AG announced.
• McClain died in August 2019 after police placed him in a chokehold and paramedics sedated him with ketamine.
• The officers and paramedics will face 32 criminal charges, including manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, according to NBC News.

A grand jury has indicted Aurora, Colorado police officers and paramedics on manslaughter charges in connection with the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, the state's attorney general announced Wednesday.

McClain, a 23-year-old Black man, died after police placed him in a chokehold and paramedics sedated him with ketamine while he was detained.

State Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a news conference that Officers Nathan Woodyard and Randy Roedema, former officer Jason Rosenblatt, and paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec will face a total of 32 charges, including manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. Roedema, Rosenblatt, Cooper, and Chichuniec face additional assault charges, he said.

"We recognize that this case will be difficult to prosecute," Weiser said at the news conference. "These kinds of cases always are. Our goal is to seek justice for Elijah McClain, for his family and friends and for our state."

Aurora City Manager Jim Twombly said in a written statement that any police officer or firefighter working for the city that is charged with a felony is immediately suspended without pay.

The Aurora Police Association said a statement on Facebook that the public reaction to McClain's case has been "hysterical," claiming that he died from exertion while resisting arrest and a pre-existing heart condition. "Nothing has changed. Our officers did nothing wrong," the statement read.

Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson provided a written statement to Insider in which she expressed condolences to McClain's family and said her department will continue to cooperate with the judicial process. "This tragedy will forever be imprinted on our community," Wilson wrote.

Weiser said that his office is also conducting a civil investigation into the Aurora Police Department and Aurora Fire Rescue to determine whether each department has a pattern of a pattern of violating community members' civil rights.

Two Aurora police officers were arrested last month after body camera footage showed one of them strangle and strike a man with his gun, while the other officer didn't appear to intervene.

Officers encountered McClain on August 24, 2019 while responding to a report of a person wearing a ski mask and acting suspiciously. McClain's family members say he wore the ski mask to keep his face from getting cold due to a blood condition.

Body camera footage showed officers order McClain to stop, to which he responds that he is an introvert and asks them to respect his boundaries. McClain began "crying out in pain, apologizing, explaining himself, and pleading with the officers" when they grabbed him, according to a police report.

McClain begins to complain that he can't breathe after police restrain him, and paramedics are then called to inject him with ketamine, the body camera footage shows.

McClain was found to not have a pulse about seven minutes after being placed in an ambulance and went into cardiac arrest, according to a report released by prosecutor Dave Young. He was declared brain dead at a hospital after the encounter, and taken off life support a few days later.

McClain's father, LaWayne Mosley, said he cried when he found out the grand jury had returned an indictment against the officers and paramedics involved in his son's death, according to NBC News.

"Nothing will bring back my son, but I am thankful that his killers will finally be held accountable," Mosley said in a statement.