DURHAM -- Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez has confirmed what many were saying, that Jesus Huerta died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The seventeen-year-old died while in police custody last month. Chief Lopez says we may never fully know what happened.

Lopez said, "It appears that Jesus Huerta suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound, while handcuffed in the backseat of this police car. Although it's unusual, unfortunately it's happened in a few other jurisdictions. We cannot say whether this gunshot wound was intentional or whether it was accidental."

The police chief was speaking one day after the family of Huerta delivered 18,000 signatures to the FBI Resident Agency in Cary demanding a federal investigation into the Durham Police Department.