In the video, which was posted on Twitter, an unidentified man asks West why he had just been attacked and if he had been acting in self-defense. West said he was walking down the street when a man approached him with a gun; he then says a number of unintelligible things.
A second video shows the troubled former basketball player sitting on a curb with his hands cuffed behind his back as he talks to police.
West, 36, was born in Maryland and played in the NBA for multiple teams - the Boston Celtics, the Seattle Supersonics, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Dallas Mavericks.
Prince George’s County Police Chief Henry P. Stawinski III told reporters Tuesday afternoon that the officer who recorded the interaction with a handcuffed West was suspended pending an investigation into how the footage was made public. Stawinski said the footage of the interaction appeared to be captured on a cellphone and not an officer-worn body camera.
“In my view, I own that
, this department owns that,” Stawinski said. “ … That’s evidence, and it’s irresponsible for that to be placed in the hands of the public, particularly when you start identifying individuals who are still subject to a serious assault and investigation.”
West has spoken in the past about having bipolar disorder. Last year, there were rumours about Delonte West being homeless. However, he denied those rumours by stating that he was helping a homeless, paralyzed person.