Results tagged “omaredwards”

African-American groups continue to turn up the heat on officials to dig further into the friendly-fire shooting of NYPD Officer Omar Edwards in the wake of a grand jury's decision not to indict Officer Andrew Dunton. Now the group 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care is taking their plea for justice to Governor Paterson, issuing the governor an ultimatum that he appoint a special investigator into the Edwards case or else lose their support in next year's election. A spokesman for the group said, "We're suspicious of the incestuous relationship of the DA's office and the NYPD when it comes to conducting fair and impartial investigations in cases like these...If he will not support us on this, then we will not support him." Paterson had assembled a panel to investigate the shooting soon after it took place in May. A spokesman said the governor is awaiting its findings before taking any further action. Paterson cannot afford to lose any support from important voting blocks going into his bid to stay in office; polls have already shown that he has lost major support from black voters who are becoming more likely to support Andrew Cuomo should he run.

Black leaders expressed frustration yesterday after a grand jury voted not to indict Officer Andrew Dunton in the fatal "friendly fire" shooting of fellow Officer Omar Edwards one rainy night in Harlem at the end of May. The Black Law Enforcement Alliance called the decision "disturbingly predictable," and demanded that investigations of police shootings be independent of the Police Department and the district attorney’s office: "The relationship between the police and the local prosecutors is incestuous and threatens public confidence in the integrity of the process."

A grand jury has voted not to indict an NYPD officer who fatally shot another officer chasing a thief through Harlem one rainy night at the end of May. Omar Edwards had just finished his shift and was not in uniform when he found a man breaking into his car. After a scuffle, he gave chase with his gun drawn, but was intercepted by plainclothes officer Andrew Dunton, who ordered him to drop his weapon. Edwards was fatally shot as he turned to face Dunton, and there are conflicting witness accounts as to whether Edwards identified himself as NYPD.

The mother of the undercover police officer who was shot by a fellow officer in East Harlem in May has expressed how displeased she is with the handling of the case. Natalia Harding, mother of the late Officer Omar Edwards, has rekindled discussion over the incident in which her son, a black officer in plainclothes, was fatally shot by Officer Andrew Dunton, a white cop chasing on foot. Harding said, "If this was Omar Edwards who shot -- whatever his name is — Dunton, Omar Edwards would be sitting in jail right now waiting to be tried for murder. I would like to see him go to jail. He is going to go out and do the same thing again."

Two potential witnesses who took cellphone video in the moments following last month's fatal cop-on-cop shooting in Harlem were told to leave by an officer at the crime scene, WABC reports. The two men, who showed the video to reporters but requested anonymity, say they were in a vehicle at a stoplight where Officer Omar Edwards chased the man who broke into his car. They didn't see the shooting because their view was blocked by another vehicle, but they heard the gunshots.

As part of the ongoing response to help prevent a friendly fire shooting like the one that killed Omar Edwards last week, yesterday the NYPD announced that they were in the early stages of developing a "smart gun," one that would include radio transmitters to alert cops of nearby weapons on other officers. The announcement came a week before the department was meeting with the lab working to develop the weapon. Only there was one problem—scientists attending next week's meeting were about to tell the NYPD that the gun is off the table. A lab spokesman told the Post, "Even if we had the funding to try to develop this, we wouldn't. There are so many limitations, it's not a good use of technology dollars." Still NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said that the technology is something the department would like to work towards, telling the paper, "It's something that doesn't exist today. It's something that is not developed but we are talking to people to see if there is a possibility of this in the future." The Post says that the department had already sent outlines of the smart gun plans to politicians before learning the idea was dead.

Yesterday, Governor Paterson announced that he will convene a state panel to investigate the "friendly fire" shooting that left an off-duty police officer dead after being fired upon by another cop. Paterson said, "We don't want to see this happen to any police officer of any color ever again. We want to try to put in protocols that prevent the shooting of police officers on or off duty who are trying to apprehend criminals."

       

Yesterday, police officer Omar Edwards was honored with an "inspectors funeral" at Our Lady of Victory Church in Brooklyn. Thousands attended the funeral for the 25-year-old, who was fatally shot by a fellow officer last week. Mayor Bloomberg gave one of the eulogies, noting how only 18 months ago Edwards was made a cop at a ceremony at Madison Square Garden, "Today, we gather again, this time to praise the gallant spirit of that dynamic, young police officer, and also to pray for him as he makes life's final journey. So to the family, friends, neighbors and fellow officers of Omar Edwards, let me express the deepest condolences of 8.4 million New Yorkers." He added, "I promise you all that we’ll do everything possible to learn from this awful tragedy."

A 20-year-old in Park Slope was picked up by police and arrested for making a false report after placing four prank calls to 911 last week. What was the hilarious line that he was trying to get cops to believe? That one of their fellow officers had been shot in the head, even giving the badge number of the "wounded" officer. Police would go to each of the locations where the supposed shootings was, only to find nothing, and contact the officer, who was all right. Investigators ultimately recognized the voice of Daquan Gardner, who was arrested for a similar call in 2007. Just two weeks ago, Gardner had been arrested for smoking marijuana at Sixth Avenue and Fourth Street, the same area he was placing the calls from on a street pay phone. An investigator told the Post, "He got locked up, he was mad at the police and he was trying to cause trouble." One of the calls last week was placed just hours before Officer Omar Edwards was fatally shot in East Harlem.

Today, the funeral of Omar Edwards, the off-duty police officer who was fatally shot by a fellow officer a week ago in Harlem, will take place at Our Lady of Victory Church on Throop Avenue in Brooklyn. Edwards is being given an "Inspector's Funeral," and will be posthumously promoted to detective first-grade. The Daily News explains the promotion will allow Edwards's widow and two young children to "collect death benefits based on a higher salary. Edwards' salary was $41,965 as a police officer. His benefits will be calculated based on a detective's pay of $104,081."

Yesterday, Danielle Edwards, widow of the off-duty cop Omar Edwards who was killed in a police "friendly fire" incident last week, was among the hundreds of mourners at the Woodward Funeral Home for her husband's wake. The Daily News said she sat in the third row with her two young sons, "the grief of lost love [was] etched on her face," and the NY Times noticed how "two drawings from his toddler son — jagged scribbles on plain white paper — were clipped together and placed on the satiny white interior of the casket, near a gold plaque that read 'Omar J. Edwards, 1984-2009.'" Leonid Timoshenko, whose police officer son Russel was killed during a 2007 traffic stop, paid his respects, telling the Post, "We're united in pain." Today is the second day of Omar Edwards' wake; tomorrow is the funeral at Our Lady of Victory Church on Throop Avenue in Brooklyn. He will be buried in East Farmingdale.

Sources tell NY1 that three witnesses heard the officer who fatally shot an armed, plainclothes off-duty officer In Harlem Thursday night identify himself as NYPD. Those three witnesses include the two other cops who arrived on the scene with officer Andrew who fired and the car break-in suspect that slain Officer Omar Edwards was chasing, Migueal Goitia. According to the Post, Goitia [earlier identified with the last name alias "Santiago"] has been hospitalized several times for unknown reasons since his arrest.

Rep. Charles Rangel apologized for his eyebrow-raising remarks on Saturday that suggested President Obama wouldn't be safe in Harlem. The Congressman said today, "It was entirely inappropriate to bring the President and his wife into this discussion during their visit to New York, and I hope my off-the-cuff comment did not cause embarrassment to anyone."

The NYPD Football Team won its game, 18-9, over the FDNY's "Bravest" team yesterday. The Fun City Bowl matchup, which took place at Hofstra, was marked with sadness, as the NYPD team's was thinking about teammate and colleague Omar Edwards, who was fatally shot while off-duty in Harlem by another cop last Thursday. The NYPD Finest players wore Edwards' number and initials on their helmet; Seventh Precinct Sgt. Dave Reilly also shaved "RIP Omar" in his hair. He told Newsday, "It felt good to win this one for Omar. He was the nicest guy in the world." Officer Joel Sussman, who worked with Edwards as a housing officer, told the Post Edwards, who was 25, had opted out of playing this season because he wanted to spend more time with his wife and two young children, adding, "If this didn't happen, he'd be here rooting us on." Police Commissioner Ray Kelly was also present for part of the game, "Obviously, [the players] very devastated. It's very difficult for all of them. ... This is obviously a very emotional experience."

To no one's surprise, Rep. Charles Rangel's "advice" to President Obama (a Daily News reporter asked what Obama should do during his NYC visit)—"Make certain he doesn't run around in East Harlem unidentified," a reference to the fatal shooting of police officer Omar Edwards by another cop—made some waves. Mayor Bloomberg said today, "I have a lot of respect for Charlie Rangel, but in this case, he’s just plain wrong...This was a tragedy. Our Police Department is diverse and they train; sometimes things happen and they’re inexplicable. There’s no reason to suspect this had any racial overtones." And the Post, no fan of Rangel, called it a "sick joke" and got a quote from an unnamed police union official: "If Congressman Rangel said ... 'and waving a gun' he might be correct" (Edwards, who was off-duty, had his gun drawn when he was shot; he was pursing a man suspected of breaking into his car).

Yesterday, about 250 people marched in Harlem during a rally for Omar Edwards, the off-duty police officer who was fatally shot in Harlem by a fellow cop. Edwards, who was black, had been pursuing a man suspected of breaking into his car with his gun drawn; his shooter, police officer Andrew Dunton, was white. According to the Reverend Al Sharpton said, "We're not here to play the race card. We're trying to stop the card from being played on black law enforcement."

At today's rally for Omar Edwards, the off-duty police officer who was killed by another cop in East Harlem, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem) was asked if he had advice to give President Obama, who is visiting NYC this evening. The Daily News reports that Rangel delivered a "snide" answer, "Make certain he doesn't run around in East Harlem unidentified." Edwards, who was black, had been chasing a man suspected of breaking into his car; he was out of uniform with his gun drawn when he was fatally shot by a white officer. Rangel, who wants a federal investigation of the shooting, also said, "If you become an officer and you have a pistol and you are of color, in or out of uniform, your chances of getting shot down by a police officer are a lot heavier than if you were not of color." Photo: jschumacher on Flickr

The family of Omar Edwards, the rookie off-duty police officer who was shot by a fellow cop in Harlem on Thursday night, were grieving yesterday. A family friend told the Daily News that Edwards' mother said, "My son is dead, my son is dead. They killed my son." The friend also said Edwards' wife Danielle is "in pieces right now....For the sake of the kids, the family is trying to remain strong." The Reverend Al Sharpton, who has already called for a federal investigation of the shooting, is holding a vigil and rally in Harlem this morning.