New York Police Squad Shoot Man 24 Times, Apparently by Mistake
February 7, 1999 - 0:0
NEW YORK The death of a Guinean man in a hail of police bullets prompted anger and calls for a federal probe here Friday. Ahmed Diallo, a 22-year-old street vendor with no police record, was hit in his Bronx apartment by 24 of 41 bullets fired by an elite plainclothes police squad early Thursday. The four officers were searching for a serial rapist whose description did not match Diallo's. An anonymous police source described the shooting as a mistake.
The police told me it was a mistake, Momodou Kujabi, Diallo's roommate, said Thursday. Diallo, who came to the United States 2-1/2 years ago, was described as a sober man and a devout Muslim who sent every penny he could to his family in Guinea. Following the 12:45 a.m. (0545 GMT) Fusillade, the officers were taken to the hospital for buzzing in the ears.
On Friday Amnesty International and militant black leader Al Sharpton raised concerns about the shooting. Diallo's death raises deeply troubling questions about the use of excessive force and police brutality in the New York Police Department, said William Schulz, executive director of Amnesty International USA, in a statement. Initial reports suggest that this disturbing episode conforms to patterns of police brutality and unjustifiable force that we have identified over the last several years, he said.
Sharpton called for a rally at the site of the shooting on Sunday. We are not trying to disrupt life in New York City, Sharpton said. We want police officers not to disrupt our life. The Bronx District Attorney's Office has opened an investigation and the U.S. attorney for the southern district of New York said she was communicating with local authorities.
We intend to work closely with the district attorney's office as this investigation proceeds, U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White said in a statement. New York State assemblyman Ruben Diaz, who represents the victim's neighborhood, on Thursday urged the federal government to launch an investigation. Speaking to reporters, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said the public should give the legal system a little time to work and not jump to conclusions.
The New York press has noted that Giuliani, a former prosecutor and staunch law-and-order advocate, was decidedly neutral on the shooting, in contrast to his usual strong pro-police stance. The officers involved have yet to speak to authorities about the incident. People subject to a criminal investigation have a right not to speak, New York police Commissioner Howard Safir told television reporters.
New York police also are protected by a 48-hour rule that gives them two days in which to consult with police union lawyers before being questioned. A full explanation will reveal that the officers acted properly, Steven Worth, a Patrolmen's Benevolent Association lawyer told the New York Daily News. The association is New York's most powerful police union. In August 1997, protests erupted after New York City police officers allegedly beat and sexually abused Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant arrested for disorderly conduct.
Louima was hospitalized with severe bowel injuries and said one officer had rammed the handle of a toilet plunger into his rectum. The New York Times pointed out that in a police force in which 90 percent of officers never fire their guns, three members of the squad that shot Diallo had been involved in previous shootings. One shooting that ended in a killing is under investigation by the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office. In a related development, Russell Jones said Thursday he was filing a complaint against officers in the same unit who shot at him eight times last month and said they were answering his fire.
An investigation concluded that Jones was unarmed at the time. The officers involved in Thursday's shooting have been reassigned to administrative tasks. (AFP)
The police told me it was a mistake, Momodou Kujabi, Diallo's roommate, said Thursday. Diallo, who came to the United States 2-1/2 years ago, was described as a sober man and a devout Muslim who sent every penny he could to his family in Guinea. Following the 12:45 a.m. (0545 GMT) Fusillade, the officers were taken to the hospital for buzzing in the ears.
On Friday Amnesty International and militant black leader Al Sharpton raised concerns about the shooting. Diallo's death raises deeply troubling questions about the use of excessive force and police brutality in the New York Police Department, said William Schulz, executive director of Amnesty International USA, in a statement. Initial reports suggest that this disturbing episode conforms to patterns of police brutality and unjustifiable force that we have identified over the last several years, he said.
Sharpton called for a rally at the site of the shooting on Sunday. We are not trying to disrupt life in New York City, Sharpton said. We want police officers not to disrupt our life. The Bronx District Attorney's Office has opened an investigation and the U.S. attorney for the southern district of New York said she was communicating with local authorities.
We intend to work closely with the district attorney's office as this investigation proceeds, U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White said in a statement. New York State assemblyman Ruben Diaz, who represents the victim's neighborhood, on Thursday urged the federal government to launch an investigation. Speaking to reporters, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said the public should give the legal system a little time to work and not jump to conclusions.
The New York press has noted that Giuliani, a former prosecutor and staunch law-and-order advocate, was decidedly neutral on the shooting, in contrast to his usual strong pro-police stance. The officers involved have yet to speak to authorities about the incident. People subject to a criminal investigation have a right not to speak, New York police Commissioner Howard Safir told television reporters.
New York police also are protected by a 48-hour rule that gives them two days in which to consult with police union lawyers before being questioned. A full explanation will reveal that the officers acted properly, Steven Worth, a Patrolmen's Benevolent Association lawyer told the New York Daily News. The association is New York's most powerful police union. In August 1997, protests erupted after New York City police officers allegedly beat and sexually abused Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant arrested for disorderly conduct.
Louima was hospitalized with severe bowel injuries and said one officer had rammed the handle of a toilet plunger into his rectum. The New York Times pointed out that in a police force in which 90 percent of officers never fire their guns, three members of the squad that shot Diallo had been involved in previous shootings. One shooting that ended in a killing is under investigation by the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office. In a related development, Russell Jones said Thursday he was filing a complaint against officers in the same unit who shot at him eight times last month and said they were answering his fire.
An investigation concluded that Jones was unarmed at the time. The officers involved in Thursday's shooting have been reassigned to administrative tasks. (AFP)