NYPD bullet kills groom on wedding day

[Bluebear]

"All I know, they was celebrating," Ford said of the men. She said the man who died was the groom. "The guy was getting married today."


====

NEW YORK - Police opened fire early Saturday on a car full of men driving away from a bachelor party at a strip club, killing the groom on his wedding day in a shooting that drew a furious outcry from family members but little immediate explanation from police.

The shooting, which also left two other men hospitalized, drew angry protests from family members and the Rev. Al Sharpton.

As many as eight officers may have been involved in the shooting near the Kalua Cabaret in Queens, said Sgt. Mike Wysokowski, another department spokesman. There were no reports that any officers were wounded, Officer Kathleen Price said.

"First it was like four shots," said Abraham Kamara, 38, who lives a few blocks from the scene of the shooting and said he was getting ready for work at the time. "And then it was like pop-pop-pop like 12 times."

Police said little about the deadly incident other than the shooting stemmed from an 'undercover operation inside the club.'

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061125/ap_on_re_us/police_shooting

[shadowknows69]

1. This sounds like nothing more than a murder on the surface

and the department's silence isn't helping to dispel that from my mind.

[Steven_S]

2. I have to agree with Sharpton on this...

He says:

"On the face of it, it seems to me to be certainly something that causes extreme alarm and must be thoroughly investigated," said the civil rights leader, who said he was called by a relative of Bell.

Until then I just wish that people would refrain from idiot statements about what it sounds like or what it looks like - but that ain't likely to happen.

[Bluebear]

4. re: "idiot" statements

Do you think the Department might be a little more forthcoming with information to the community?

[Steven_S]

6. Always....

But the system is such that reliable information is not always forthcoming, at least not in the first 48 hours or so(sometimes never). Union rules and all.

Also the information acquired by the media right after an incident is rarely accurate, hence my agreement with Sharpton and his "Lets' take a real good look at this one" position.

[ret5hd]

7. Oh, those evil unions are at it again!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Bluebear]

8. The car contained UNARMED men

NEW YORK - Police fired 50 rounds Saturday at a car of unarmed men leaving a bachelor party at a strip club, killing the groom on his wedding day in a shooting that drew a furious outcry from family members and community leaders.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061126/ap_on_re_us/police_shooting

Well we know that much at least.

[Blue_Tires]

24. 50 rounds?!?!?!?!?

:wtf:

[MrSlayer]

3. More details are necessary before any judgment can be passed.

Can't really comment without knowing what happened.

[theoldman]

5. You guys need to see the movie "Cop Land".

Although fiction I think it showed how police cover for each other.

[uppityperson]

9. Here is BBC's take on it, link anyways. Odd story

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6184948.stm

[MadHound]

16. Thanks for the information

It sounds like the group got into it with an undercover in the club, struck another undercover(or possibly the same one) with their car as they left, and finally did a hit and run on an undercover cop car. And rather than pulling these guys over, out of some random fear that they were armed, the cops opened up with fifty rounds of gunfire.

This is fucking insane. Any moment the cop defenders will show up with their usual BS about how it's just few bad cops, the victims brought it on themselves, etc. Sorry, I call bullshit. It is the pervasive atmosphere of contempt for civilians, and the likewise pervasive culture that they are superior to civilians that has permanently poisoned the well of police culture. Frankly, to a cop, any cop, civilian lives are all too disposable, and this in combination with the cop culture has rendered each and everyone of us potential victims.

It is time to rein in the police, and frankly the only way I see to do that is tear it all down and start all over again.

[qanda]

19. This story is very odd

And it makes me wonder if the guy driving hit the cars because he was trying to get away. I don't know many people who like to damage their own cars on purpose.

[MadHound]

22. My thought is that these guys were drunk, and/or high

Piled into the car, laughing and carrying on, nicked the UC cop, nicked the UC cop car, and kept going. The cops got pissed and rather than flip on the lights and pull them over, they unleashed a hail of bullets with the predictable results. I think that a lot of the rest of this story is CYA on the cops part. My guess is that the undercover cops were at the strip club on their own time, having a good time, and perhaps these guys annoyed them.

Whatever the cause, the reaction is entirely over the top. Sadly, as in other over the top cases of police misconduct, a few cops will get a slap on the wrist, and then they'll be back on the streets, ready to kill again.

[shance]

10. "Police fired 50 bullets at the car which was being driven by the groom".

My God. What were they expecting?

Bonnie and Clyde?

[rman]

11. "believe that an altercation involving a firearm was about to happen"

the virtues of the paradigm of prevention.

very sad.

[bigtree]

12. over 50 shots

50

[Bill McBlueState]

13. NYPD "bullet" kills groom?

But bullets don't kill people; people kill people.

[HughBeaumont]

14. 50 rounds on unarmed men BELIEVED to have weapons.

Did anyone from the car look like they were drawing a gun?

Most likely a lot of departmental lying and cover-up is going to occur. Sounds like a deadly botch to me.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

17. According to NBC news here in NY, they have still not found a weapon. eom

[MadHound]

18. I doubt that they will.

Members of the party are stating that nobody was packing. After all, this was a celebratory time, a bachelor party. I don't know about NYC, but most bachelor parties I've been to forego bringing the firearms.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

21. More extended report. They were unarmed. Period. It seems that the cops are

floating the story that the car rammed the police unmarked van twice and the cops were afraid that a gun battle was going to start......
Meanwhile, the families contacted Sharpton to try to insure a fair investigation.

[MadHound]

23. I would like to see that van.

I would also like to see the wound given to the UC cop that the group was supposed to have hit. My guess is that the van got tagged on the front corner bumper, the UC cop has a big ass bruise on his leg, and got knocked on his ass, and that all of this resulted from a group of somewhat drunk/high partiers pulled out to head home. They probably didn't notice what happened, and rather than simply flipping on the lights to pull them over, the cops responded with gunfire, and all the rest of this is CYA bullshit.

Funny though, I've yet to hear about this on the national news. Got to protect the forces of law and order.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

25. Your explanation rings true. Another blurb just now..there are questions about

the cops identifying themselves as police. Bet they didn't. There is also a vigil at the hospital where the two survivors are, led by Sharpton. Also, yesterday morning, when the news was unfolding, there was no public release of the information that the groom died. The mother of one of the other victims gave that information. Sounded immediately like a cover-up to me. I'm just surprised that the cops didn't plant throw away weapons. There probably wasn't enough time.

[undeterred]

15. NY version of a shotgun wedding

:shrug:

[crispini]

20. Is it just me

or does a lot of this bad stuff happen in Queens, like that Halloween incident with the undercover guy and the kids who were egging his car, or something...

[RamboLiberal]

26. Looks like the cops and the guys who got shot each thought

the others were bad guys with guns. NY Daily News has some good reports.

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/474983p-399546c.html

Everything from the number of shell casings around the car to the absence of a gun inside it to the witness accounts suggests the police officers who shot three unarmed young men early Saturday morning did so in the mistaken and panicked belief they were in mortal danger.
The same facts and statements suggest the three young men in the car who repeatedly tried to crash past an unmarked police van did so in their own mistaken and panicked belief they were in mortal danger. One was climbing into the back of the car when he saw a tall figure in street attire approach in the early morning darkness.

"Yo, my man, come here, my man, let me holler at you," the figure was heard to call out.

The tall figure was holding something black by his side.

"He's got a gat! He's got a gat! Be out! Be out!" the young man climbing into the car shouted.

And IMHO the cop who fired 31 shots and the LT who hid beneath his dashboard while his cops fired 50 rounds needs to be fired. Both panicked!

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/475043p-399547c.html

The white detective who squeezed off 31 of 50 shots at three unarmed men outside a Queens strip joint had a clean record, never fired his gun in the line of duty and was known as a good street cop.

His unblemished history left fellow officers puzzled yesterday over what led the 12-year veteran to get down on one knee and empty two clips on the darkened Jamaica street early Saturday morning.

"He lost it. Four or five rounds - maybe. But to reload? It's hard to understand. Even in the heat of the moment, it's overkill," a law enforcement source said.

In all, seven plainclothes officers were involved in what should have been a textbook prostitution sting as part of the city's effort to shutter the Kalua Cabaret.

But the NYPD has interviewed only two cops - the ones who did not fire: an undercover detective who remained outside the club and a lieutenant who

[benEzra]

27. That's exactly what my wife thought...

when she first saw the story. That if a tough-looking someone dressed in street clothes followed her out of a bar to her vehicle, and then stepped in front of her vehicle to block her path as she tried to pull away, she'd assume they were a mugger or carjacker, and would probably lay on the horn, keep going, and make them get out of the way--not "stop, turn off the radio, and listen to what he's shouting to see if he's an undercover police officer instead of a carjacker."

IMHO, undercover police sometimes forget that they don't LOOK like police. If they were trying to run down a uniformed officer, yes, it'd be more complicated. But if a guy looks like a mugger with a gun, and acts like a carjacker, what are you supposed to think?

This is not far from the scenario in the "92-year-old-granny-shot-by-police" thread. Police accidentally or thoughtlessly do something that makes them look like a criminal aggressor, citizen takes defensive action, citizen gets shot. I think departments need to sit down and think long and hard about police-mistaken-for-criminals scenarios and modify their policies accordingly.

[grizmaster]

28. This story languishes while the richards nonsense gets 24-7 coverage

In my book cops murdering unarmed men who are leaving the area rates top billing, over any macaca moment.

[zreosumgame]

29. keep in mind it is the NYPD, they shoot first then

shoot anyone who asks questions. Or they stick a broom up you ass, or they shoot you 40-50 times after you are down, through your feet. Yeah, the Thin Blue Line protecting the rights of thugs.