UPDATE: The Associated Press is reporting one officer has been suspended.

Prince George’s County Police and county prosecutors are investigating officers who were caught on videotape beating a student during riots following the Terrapin men’s basketball team’s victory over Duke last month.

The investigation advanced yesterday after a video was turned over to the police department showing officers beating John McKenna, a 21-year-old student, without apparent provocation. The county State Attorney’s Office dropped charges against McKenna and Ben Donat, a 19-year-old sophomore, during the past few days.

Maj. Andrew Ellis, a county police spokesman, said the department’s internal investigation will almost certainly result in sanctions against three or four officers, one of whom has already been identified, Ellis said. He declined to release the name of the officer, citing the ongoing investigation.

“It’s very likely that officers will be suspended,” he said. He added that criminal charges or administrative sanctions — ranging from a fine to termination — could be brought against officers as well.

“The conduct of the officers in the videotape looks to be just outrageous,” Ellis said.

The lawyer representing Donat and McKenna, Chris Griffiths, couldn’t be reached for comment last night. He released video of the apparent attack to several media outlets yesterday. One of them, ABC affiliate WJLA in Washington, turned the footage over to police. Ellis said it was a major factor in aiding the investigation.

The video shows McKenna dancing down Knox Road toward a group of officers. Two on horseback approach McKenna, and shortly thereafter, another officer on foot hits him with a nightstick. McKenna then falls into the fetal position, and a group of three to four officers appears to continue beating him for 20 seconds. McKenna makes no obvious attempt to resist or fight back against the officers. It was unclear what, if anything, McKenna said to the officers to prompt their violent reaction.

The state’s attorney dropped charges against Donat on Friday because police officers were not able to identify him. Donat declined to comment last night, referring questions to Griffiths. Charges against McKenna were also dropped. McKenna couldn’t be reached for comment.

Sharon Weidenfeld, a private investigator who worked with Griffiths, said the video was not released until after both charges were dropped and had nothing to do with the state’s attorney’s decision. She said both students will be pursuing civil suits against the police department in the near future.

Before the dissemination of the footage, which Ellis called “disturbing,” he said no footage from the riot had shown “any apparent wrongdoing by officers.”

The riots, which came after the Terps’ upset of then-No. 4 Duke, involved police using pepper spray and rubber pepper spray pellets from rifles to disperse a crowd of more than a thousand students who were celebrating in the middle of Route 1. Some students started fires and damaged city property.

The next day, students rallied against what they said was widespread police brutality, and video footage began to surface displaying police beating students with night sticks and students being forced to walk back to their dorms and apartments with their hands above their heads as if to surrender. Students also accused police of threatening them after they were arrested, and several arrested students came forward, insisting they were innocent of all charges.

Weidenfeld denied allegations that Donat and McKenna were working together on the night of the riot, despite notes from their charging documents suggesting they were.

“That is absolutely false,” she said, adding that Donat was also beaten by police about a block away from McKenna. “It’s backed up by the video.”

After the riot, McKenna was left with a cut on his head that required eight staples to close, a concussion and several bruises.

Donat also suffered a concussion and multiple bruises, Weidenfeld said.

Both students have recovered from their injuries physically, Weidenfeld said, but added that their mental recovery will be a slower process.

“They’re both physically good, but mentally they’ve been through a horrible experience that you don’t recover easily from,” she said.

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