Posted on 11/25/2006 2:29:19 PM PST by Brilliant
NYPD bullet kills groom on wedding day
NEW YORK - A bachelor party at a strip club ended early Saturday with police opening fire on a group of men leaving the establishment, killing a groom on his wedding day and wounding two others, one critically.
There was no immediate explanation for what sparked the shooting, which drew angry protests from family members and the Rev. Al Sharpton. The New York Police Department's chief spokesman, Paul Browne, declined to comment.
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."
The intersection where the shooting occurred remained blocked off Saturday afternoon as police inspected a car and a minivan and placed dozens of crime scene markers on the ground where shell casings had been recovered.
Denise Ford, who said her son was one of the survivors, said the trio's car had hit an unmarked police vehicle. Police did not immediately confirm that either of the vehicles in the intersection belonged to the department.
"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."
Relatives identified the man killed early Saturday as Sean Bell, 23. Sharpton said Bell and his fiancee had two children, ages 5 months and 3 years.
Sharpton said after visiting the two wounded men — Trent Benefield, 23, and Joseph Guzman, 31 — that he was outraged to find the pair handcuffed to their hospital beds. He said one suffered 17 wounds, though it was unclear how many were bullet wounds, and the other man was shot three times.
"We're not anti-police ... we're anti-police brutality," Sharpton said.
Sharpton said family members told him that there were no guns in the young men's car and "there was no reason for the police to shoot."
"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.
Robert Porter, who identified himself as a cousin of Bell, said about 250 people were invited to Saturday's wedding and were flying in from all over the country. He said his cousin wasn't the type to confront police and was "on the straight and narrow."
Roy Brown, who said he works as a photographer at the club, said sirens sounded not long after the three men left the club.
"They weren't rowdy or nothing like that," said Brown, 57.
The owner of the building, Juan Escobar, would not say who owned the Kalua Cabaret. A message seeking comment was left at a phone number listed for the club.
One of the wounded men was in critical condition at Mary Immaculate Hospital and the other was listed as stable.
In 1999, NYPD officers killed Amadou Diallo, an unarmed West African immigrant who was shot 19 times in the entry to his apartment building. The four officers in that case were acquitted of criminal charges.
In 2003, Ousmane Zongo, 43, a native of the western African country of Burkina Faso, was killed during a police raid on a warehouse where he repaired art and musical instruments. Zongo was shot four times, twice in the back.
Were these fake Baghdad police setting up a fake roadblock? No? Maybe there is more to the story.
"said the trio's car had hit an unmarked police vehicle."
Yeah. It's hard to imagine that they'd shoot them for hitting their car. There's gotta be more to it than what's here.
You also wonder why there would be 8 cops and an unmarked car there.
just the facts ma'am.
Bad journalism. He almost certainly really said, "All I know, they was celebratin'" .
That's just wrong.
I love the way these AP scumbags throw in something completely irrelevant at the end of the story.
Al Sharpton's name in a story means that whatever he says happened, never did.
It's been decades since I've been to a strip club, so I'm guessing that having staff photographers is some sort of newer trend?
And we're against race baiting.
Wouldn't it be nice to let the air clear and find out everything that happened before bringing out the 52-card deck of race cards?
If these guys were driving off falling down drunk how many innocent lives might have been saved?
That kind of cavalier attitude about "celebrating" and driving might play well in Uganda, but in civilized countries there are laws for a reason.
Do I know that's what happened? No.
Does past experience tell me something? Yes.
If the details are simply not there, I can be confident that details would not favor the "victims"!
Another Tawana Brawley moment??
Cops on the take?
What I have never figured out is how a groom can go to a bachelor party on the night before his wedding. That's insane unless he doesn't care how he feels during the wedding.
***Relatives identified the man killed early Saturday as Sean Bell, 23. Sharpton said Bell and his fiancee had two children, ages 5 months and 3 years. ***
One thing we know about this guy he doesnt buy anything without first trying it out.
Not enough information about the shooting part. I cant see 8 cops opening fire on a bunch of people peacefully walking out of a nightclub. What was the race of the Police Officers? One guy had 17 wounds but it was unclear if they were bullet wounds? That doesnt make much sense.
What do they have police inspectors for? Just tell Sharpton and he has all the answers.
This is what happens when New York City allows its police officers to have guns.
" I cant see 8 cops opening fire on a bunch of people peacefully walking out of a nightclub."
One of them may have reached for a cell phone...
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