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ST. LOUIS • ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Police Chief Sam Dotson said the department has turned over its investigation of a fatal 2015 police shooting of a ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ man to prosecutors for review.

The department did not publicly release the findings of its Force Investigative Unit in . Dotson said information will be released after the Circuit Attorney’s Office reviews the findings and decides whether charges any charges are warranted.

“The Force Investigative Unit has worked diligently to ensure a thorough investigation of this case,� Dotson said in a statement. “All of their findings have now been turned over to the Circuit Attorney’s Office for an independent review.�

Police have said that Ball-Bey, 18, ran out the back door of a home on the 1200 block of Walton Avenue around noon as officers were serving a search warrant seeking drugs and guns. Authorities said two officers fired when Ball-Bey pointed a handgun with an extended magazine at one of them.

Attorneys for Ball-Bey’s family have and of Ball-Bey’s body.

The shooting, coming about a year after the police shooting of and exactly a year after the police shooting of , .

Dr. Michael Graham, the city medical examiner, said that an autopsy revealed that Ball-Bey’s spinal cord was severed. The finding surprised investigators, given that officers and witnesses said Ball-Bey was shot behind a home, then dropped a weapon and ran through a gangway to the front of the home before collapsing. He struggled there with officers as they tried to handcuff him, authorities said.

The discovery prompted Graham to consult with at least four national neuropathology experts, who specialize in the central nervous system, to try to determine when Ball-Bey’s spinal cord severed. All concluded that Ball-Bey’s spinal cord had been damaged by the fatal shot, but actually severed at some later point, Graham said Monday.

“The gunshot went right beside the spine, and looking at all the evidence, it didn’t sever immediately,� Graham said. “The cord was injured but did not preclude him from moving, and it subsequently separated.�

That’s the only explanation that matches witness testimony and physical evidence showing where Ball-Bey was shot and where he collapsed, Graham said.

He said he is unaware of any other cases in which a spinal cord has had a delayed separation.

The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Circuit Attorney’s Office launched running parallel to the police investigation. The move was at the time, but Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce says that will be standard procedure for officer-involved shootings.

A spokeswoman for Joyce said she will release the findings of her review soon.