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Police Shooting Another Citizen with a Twist
p3skyking
Member Posts: 23,916 ✭✭✭
Off-duty NYPD cop fatally shot by fellow officer
NEW YORK - A plainclothes policeman who drew his gun while chasing someone he had found rummaging through his car was shot and killed by a fellow officer who was driving by and saw the pursuit, the police commissioner said.
Commissioner Raymond Kelly said 25-year-old Omar J. Edwards died after being shot late Thursday within blocks of the Harlem police station where he worked.
Edwards had just finished his shift around 10:30 p.m. when he headed to his car and saw that the driver's-side window had been smashed and a man was going through the vehicle, Kelly said.
Edwards struggled with the man, who got away from him by slipping out of his sweater, Kelly said. Edwards chased the man up two streets with his gun drawn, he said.
A sergeant and two plainclothes officers in an unmarked police car saw the pursuit and made a U-turn to follow the men, Kelly said. One of the officers jumped out of the car and fired six times, hitting Edwards twice - once in the arm and once in the chest, he said.
Kelly said Edwards did not fire his weapon. He died at the Harlem Hospital Center about an hour after the shooting.
It was unclear whether the officers identified themselves. The name of the officer who fired the shots has not been released, but Kelly said he had worked at the NYPD for four years.
"While we don't know all the details of what happened tonight, this is a tragedy. Rest assured that we will find out exactly what happened here, and we will learn from it so it doesn't happen again," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a news conference from the hospital.
Kelly said Edwards had been on the force for two years and worked in the housing bureau. He was recently married and had two young children.
On Friday, police blanketed the shooting scene. A stretch of 125th Street, a major thoroughfare, was blocked off. People passing in cars and waiting for buses tried to get a glimpse beyond the yellow crime-scene tape; some asked each other what was going on.
The shooter was white and Edwards was black, a fact that could raise questions about police use of deadly force in a minority community.
In the past three years in the New York City area, there have been two other cases of off-duty policemen being shot and killed by other officers.
In 2008, a black, off-duty Mount Vernon police officer was killed by a Westchester County policeman while holding a gun on an assault suspect in suburban White Plains. A grand jury found the victim had failed to identify himself as an officer. County officers - one white, one black and two Hispanic - were cleared of wrongdoing by a grand jury.
In 2006, a New York City police officer, Eric Hernandez, was shot and killed by an on-duty patrolman who was responding to an attack at a White Castle in the Bronx.
Okay, we've had threads where innocent and not so innocent citizens (including kids) who were shot by police have been damned for whatever, not stopping, not dropping what was in their hands, etc. Here's another one that can't be shrugged off so easily. Will this revoke any one's Licence to Kill? Probably not, but it's a tragedy for all involved.
NEW YORK - A plainclothes policeman who drew his gun while chasing someone he had found rummaging through his car was shot and killed by a fellow officer who was driving by and saw the pursuit, the police commissioner said.
Commissioner Raymond Kelly said 25-year-old Omar J. Edwards died after being shot late Thursday within blocks of the Harlem police station where he worked.
Edwards had just finished his shift around 10:30 p.m. when he headed to his car and saw that the driver's-side window had been smashed and a man was going through the vehicle, Kelly said.
Edwards struggled with the man, who got away from him by slipping out of his sweater, Kelly said. Edwards chased the man up two streets with his gun drawn, he said.
A sergeant and two plainclothes officers in an unmarked police car saw the pursuit and made a U-turn to follow the men, Kelly said. One of the officers jumped out of the car and fired six times, hitting Edwards twice - once in the arm and once in the chest, he said.
Kelly said Edwards did not fire his weapon. He died at the Harlem Hospital Center about an hour after the shooting.
It was unclear whether the officers identified themselves. The name of the officer who fired the shots has not been released, but Kelly said he had worked at the NYPD for four years.
"While we don't know all the details of what happened tonight, this is a tragedy. Rest assured that we will find out exactly what happened here, and we will learn from it so it doesn't happen again," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a news conference from the hospital.
Kelly said Edwards had been on the force for two years and worked in the housing bureau. He was recently married and had two young children.
On Friday, police blanketed the shooting scene. A stretch of 125th Street, a major thoroughfare, was blocked off. People passing in cars and waiting for buses tried to get a glimpse beyond the yellow crime-scene tape; some asked each other what was going on.
The shooter was white and Edwards was black, a fact that could raise questions about police use of deadly force in a minority community.
In the past three years in the New York City area, there have been two other cases of off-duty policemen being shot and killed by other officers.
In 2008, a black, off-duty Mount Vernon police officer was killed by a Westchester County policeman while holding a gun on an assault suspect in suburban White Plains. A grand jury found the victim had failed to identify himself as an officer. County officers - one white, one black and two Hispanic - were cleared of wrongdoing by a grand jury.
In 2006, a New York City police officer, Eric Hernandez, was shot and killed by an on-duty patrolman who was responding to an attack at a White Castle in the Bronx.
Okay, we've had threads where innocent and not so innocent citizens (including kids) who were shot by police have been damned for whatever, not stopping, not dropping what was in their hands, etc. Here's another one that can't be shrugged off so easily. Will this revoke any one's Licence to Kill? Probably not, but it's a tragedy for all involved.
Comments
Six shots in the dark at a running target, two hits, one fatal.
That officer is a good shot.
Six shots in the dark at a running target, two hits, one fatal.
May be a good shot, but should be out of a job. Victim did not fire his weapon? Victim chasing another person, not coming towards officer?
Did officer(shooter) identify himself and order weapon dropped first?
Hell of alot of mistakes here!
I work with the range with various local police departments that use our range for their qualifications and training, Three different counties use our facilities. What a bunch of ding dongs, most unsafe bunch of gun toters I have had the mispleasure of dealing with.[xx(]
At least the dumb ones are killing each other off.
A clear example of "assumption" on the part of the officer that shot and killed the person attempting to catch a criminal. Much of that happens these days when the cops are trained and outfitted like military commandos and everyone else is the enemy. Even in small towns of 15,000 - 30,000 they have huge push bumpers on the cars, full armor, etc. No such thing as the neighborhood cop walking the beat anymore.
And there in lies the shame of modern cops. They are no longer police officers, they are now "Law Enforcement". I still think they should take their firearms from them and give them whistles and make them do a foot beat 3 of the 5 days they work. Forces them to interact with the decent public folks. They get to know the public and know who is trouble and who is not. As it is, they are now a special class of people with special rights who treat everyone as "turds". I support 100% community policing.