The Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office issued a statement in response to the delivery of a 33,000 signature petition demanding a federal investigation into the fatal shooting of African-American teenager Ramarley Graham at the hands of a New York City police officer.

"Last fall, this Office began an independent review of the evidence regarding the death of Ramarley Graham after local authorities completed their investigation and ultimately were not able to bring any charges arising out of the shooting. ...In addition to reviewing evidence obtained from local authorities, this Office has been conducting its own independent investigation of this tragic incident," said the statement.

The mother of Ramarley Graham, Constance Malcolm, delivered the petition of 33,000 signatures on Wednesday.

"We are pleased...it seems that the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Southern District  has moved from a preliminary "review" of the unjust murder of our son by an NYPD officer to an independent investigation," said Malcolm. "Our request for a meeting with Preet Bharara within the next 29 days awaits a response. The U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District is meeting with the family of Eric Garner today. While we have made previous requests for a meeting with our family that have gone unanswered, it is our hope that the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District agrees to meet with our family at this time."

This comes a day after Malcolm delivered a petition with 33,000 signatures to demand the Justice Department and U.S. Attorney's office conduct a federal investigation into the fatal shooting of her unarmed son.

Graham was killed Feb. 2, 2012, when an officer from a special narcotics unit chased him to his home because officers investigating a drug deal believed Graham had a gun in his waistband. Officers entered the home without a warrant, and officer Richard Haste fatally shot the teen once in the chest in the bathroom. Police say they recovered a small bag of marijuana in the toilet. No weapon was found.

"My son was unarmed and murdered by an NYPD officer who busted into our home with no warrant and shot him in front of his 6-year-old brother and grandmother," said Malcolm. "If that's not a blatant violation of civil rights, then the Justice Department might as well close its civil rights division because it is allowing open season on our communities. President Obama, Attorney General Holder and Preet Bharara must decide whether they are going to uphold justice and the civil rights of people of color in this country and show that our lives are valued equally by the justice system. I'm not asking for favors, simply blind justice."

Malcolm wants Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. District Attorney Preet Bharara to open a full federal investigation, convene a grand jury and meet with the family.

In this case, there was an initial indictment for manslaughter against Haste, but the case was dismissed in May 2013 after Bronx Supreme Court Justice Steven Barrett ruled a Bronx district attorney assistant made an error. Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson brought the case before a second grand jury in August, where Haste was not indicted by the jury. After the decision, the U.S. Justice Department announced that it would review whether Haste violated Graham's civil rights in the shooting death; the review is still pending. And a year later, the Graham family has received no indication that the DOJ has moved from "review" to a full investigation.

Also on Wednesday, the New York Civil Liberties Union released an analysis of new NYPD data on the stop-and-frisk program under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.The Bloomberg administration claimed stop-and-frisk was effective in getting guns and criminals off the streets. Of the 191,558 stops in 2013, almost 90 percent were innocent, meaning there was no arrest or issuing of summons. The report found of those stopped, 70 percent were blacks and Latinos, and once stopped they were more likely to be frisked than white New Yorkers. The NYPD recovered a gun in only one out of every 500 stops, a gun recovery rate of 0.02 percent.

"The clear lesson from 12 years of NYPD data is that increasing stop-and-frisk does not increase public safety," said Chris Dunn, NYCLU Associate Legal Director. "Most notable, while stops have plummeted since 2011, murders, shooting, and other serious crimes all have come down since then. These facts must guide future NYPD policies and practices."

The report and the petition request comes when police departments across the United States are under increased scrutiny following the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown.

A large rally is planned for Saturday on Staten Island with "justice" buses traveling from other states to demand an indictment in the Eric Garner case. 

This comes just two weeks since six mothers, including Constance Malcolm, of family members killed by the NYPD over the past two decades met with the NYPD Inspector General demanding a federal investigation into the NYPD.