Tapsearch Com EditorNYT obtains police report on shooting
December 11th 2006 15:41
A leaked document from the NYPD might actually make the Bell shooting more, not less, murky. Up until now, the story that made the most sense was that cops were undercover at a strip club and believed three men were about to do something violent. They followed the suspects to a car.
One officer tried to stop the suspects, but the car's driver tried to run him over. The officer fired, with the bullet going through the car and toward the van behind it -- which contained the other officers. Those officers thought the shot came from inside the car. Much shooting ensued.
But now:
"In his statement to police, Benefield said Bell repeatedly drove forward and in reverse after officers opened fire, the newspaper reported. His account contradicts police statements that the detective opened fire after being hit by Bell's car."
Also, the cops don't seem to have their stories together:
"The report reveals that none of the witnesses recalled hearing anything close to 50 rounds, The Times said. The sergeants who arrived after the shooting told investigators that two of the plainsclothes officers said they were unsure whether they had even fired at all, the newspaper reported."
They don't remember if they shot or not?
Finally, the "fourth man" argument -- cops were saying there was possibly a fourth guy who had a gun but ran -- is fading:
"Witnesses interviewed for a preliminary report on the police shooting of three men — including a groom on his wedding day — did not mention a fourth, possibly armed man who police say may have been present before officers opened fire, a newspaper reported Monday.
...
"The report also contains no indication that police were searching after the shooting for a fourth man, the paper said."
On a side note, terrible story. The suspects are, in the writer's voice, "victims." There's still too much unknown to make that kind of call. The NYT story the AP account is based on is equally bad, and pretty roundabout in getting to the point.
I also blogged about the shooting here. At that point I was pretty sympathetic to Heather Mac Donald's argument that, no matter what happened, the guys in the car played a major role in it. Now things aren't looking so positive for the police.
Robert VerBruggen blogs at http://www.therationale.com and http://robertsrationale.blogspot.com.
One officer tried to stop the suspects, but the car's driver tried to run him over. The officer fired, with the bullet going through the car and toward the van behind it -- which contained the other officers. Those officers thought the shot came from inside the car. Much shooting ensued.
But now:
"In his statement to police, Benefield said Bell repeatedly drove forward and in reverse after officers opened fire, the newspaper reported. His account contradicts police statements that the detective opened fire after being hit by Bell's car."
Also, the cops don't seem to have their stories together:
"The report reveals that none of the witnesses recalled hearing anything close to 50 rounds, The Times said. The sergeants who arrived after the shooting told investigators that two of the plainsclothes officers said they were unsure whether they had even fired at all, the newspaper reported."
They don't remember if they shot or not?
Finally, the "fourth man" argument -- cops were saying there was possibly a fourth guy who had a gun but ran -- is fading:
"Witnesses interviewed for a preliminary report on the police shooting of three men — including a groom on his wedding day — did not mention a fourth, possibly armed man who police say may have been present before officers opened fire, a newspaper reported Monday.
...
"The report also contains no indication that police were searching after the shooting for a fourth man, the paper said."
On a side note, terrible story. The suspects are, in the writer's voice, "victims." There's still too much unknown to make that kind of call. The NYT story the AP account is based on is equally bad, and pretty roundabout in getting to the point.
I also blogged about the shooting here. At that point I was pretty sympathetic to Heather Mac Donald's argument that, no matter what happened, the guys in the car played a major role in it. Now things aren't looking so positive for the police.
Robert VerBruggen blogs at http://www.therationale.com and http://robertsrationale.blogspot.com.
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