New Witness Emerges In NYC Groom Shooting

Five Cops Are Accused Of 50-Bullet Barrage That Killed Man On His Wedding Day

(CBS/AP)  A last-minute, mystery witness testified Thursday before a grand jury that already had begun deliberating whether to charge five police officers in the death of an unarmed man on his wedding day.

The man testified for about an hour, a person familiar with the investigation, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the secrecy of the grand jury process, told The Associated Press.

The testimony came as the city anxiously awaited word on a decision by the grand jury on the fate of the five officers, who could face a range of charges in the Nov. 25 shooting that killed 23-year-old Sean Bell and wounded two of his friends.

The racial makeup of the 22-member grand jury, reports CBS News affiliate WCBS, is the following: eight are black, seven are white, four are Hispanic, two are Indian, one is Asian, and one was absent from the panel when the count was taken.

Grand jurors were instructed to consider the following charges, reports WCBS: second-degree murder, manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide stemming from Bell's death; and attempted murder, assault or reckless endangerment in the wounding of Bell's two friends.

Detectives' Endowment Association President Michael Palladino said that the new witness was a 55-year-old man who spoke little English. He went to a police station on Wednesday to say he had been working on the night of the shooting near the strip club where it occurred. Palladino had been briefed on the situation by detectives at the police station.

The man told detectives he heard the crash of vehicles and ran out to see what was happening, Palladino said. The man said he saw a black male fire one or two shots at a police officer and then flee into a nearby building. The man told detectives that he also heard police officers identifying themselves as police, Palladino said.

"I don't know where this man came from," Palladino told the AP. "But this guy could have a vital piece of information. ... The man told detectives that he didn't come forward sooner because he was afraid and overwhelmed."

It is not known if the witness is considered credible, but his testimony could help the officers if he helps convince grand jurors that the police were justified in opening fire.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who has acted as a spokesman for the family of Bell and the surviving victims, said at a news conference that there's something "suspect" about a witness having a change of heart and then suddenly turning up at a police station instead of going to the prosecutor.

"Who determines what is credible, reckless or not?" Sharpton asked, adding that such testimony could taint the grand jury process. "Did he mislead investigators then? Or is he misleading investigators now?"

"This story, as told, smells," Sharpton said in an interview with the AP. He added that he wanted the state attorney general to monitor the grand jury process.

[delta5243]

Al says whatever is going to cause/start as much controversy as possible so he can get his name in the media. Period.

[mitywhity]

You know dat's right! Dese young buck neegars ride around smokin ceegars biggah than theys are startin trouble. What do theys expect?

Anyone who believes that these "model citizens" were just singled out and massacred is a fool. These fools were living the "hood" life and that will get you killed by the cops, your rivals and your "homies." It was either die that night or die very soon down the road.

[bkotarsk]

Some day Sharpton is Going To STOP looking at The Suspects SKIN color Before he decides to Defend the person.
Sharpton needs to Change His policies..

Black = Your innocent
White = your Guilty
yellow = your Guilty

Interacial = Guilty if less than Half Black

[one_american]

If Rev. Al Sharpton defends someone, you know they HAVE to be guilty as hell.

[us_infidel]

"Who determines what is credible, reckless or not?" Sharpton asked, adding that such testimony could taint the grand jury process. "Did he mislead investigators then? Or is he misleading investigators now?" Rev. Al

That's right....can't have people MISLEADING investigators. Can anyone say Duke LaCrosse?

[rohink-2009]

This story, as told, smells," Sharpton said in an interview with the AP. He added that he wanted the state attorney general to monitor the grand jury process.

Yeah, let's all listen to Al Sharpton. Talking about a story smelling, can anyone say......Tawana Bradley?

[agnim]

Lying comes easier than murder, especially if the lying is to cover for the murder.

'Planting weapons' and now 'planting weapons' witness comes easy for KKK Police who MURDER.

Even if what this so-called witness claimed is true, the amounts of shots fired, not at the so-called 'fleeing suspect' but at OTHERS, would still not be much of a mitigating circumstance to justify the many tens of bullets fired by the police without even having shots returned.

[oimiass]

Come on, people. Put your race hate aside - we don't know what really happened, but look at the facts:

1. A man is killed by 50+ shots from nonuniformed police officers.
2. The whole world hears about it. Really.
3. No one steps forward to say what really happens--until a grand jury inquiry is almost over. Oh, and he says the police were right...

Again, we don't know what really happened, but if an objective, prudent person was presented with the facts above, what would s/he say. "Something's fishy", that's what.

And that's what Al said...

[us_infidel]

many tens of bullets fired by the police without even having shots returned.

Posted by Agnim at 02:20 PM : Mar 15, 2007

50 shots.....10 officers.......confusion, crossfire, tinted windows......not hard to see how it could happen.

Live by the sword, die by the sword, right? You wanna be a playa and a gagnsta......take what you get-a.

al sharpton is evil and i fail to see why black america still trusts him in any way.

Read Enough by Juan Williams or do some research into his ethics and you will see that sharpton is smelling his self and black america needs to put him in the trash!

[beehive21-2009]

Who is it ? Casper the Ghost ?

[mitywhity]

Why does the "reverend" Sharpton never utter a word about the "crime" these hoods do: the drugs, the killing, the violence, the beating down of they's "Hoes", the illegitimate children, the laziness, the stealing, the list goes on. Back in the day these "Stepin Fetchit Jr.s" would get straightened out one way or the other.

[anvilheadsix]

Sharpton smelling himself....eating too many chitlins.
Posted by usmcvn at 02:22 PM : Mar 15, 2007


Racist fool

[susanhelit]

How many bullets were fired by each side doesn't matter. This isn't a sport, where you play fair - this is our law enforcement protecting us from criminals and thugs. And if some thug shoots at them, I want them to have 50 times the firepower to fire back. Because we're not playing some game here, this is life and death. If you shoot at the police - you've bought a coffin - only luck will save you from it.

Maybe the witness is credible, maybe not - but the number of bullets fired doesn't mean anything.

[us_infidel]

black america needs to put him in the trash!
Posted by amerigirl28 at 02:35 PM : Mar 15, 2007

Sharpton, Jackson, Andrew Young, et al are known as "poverty pimps." They make a living extorting money (sorry, I mean contributions) from business for percieved racial injustices.

They run around fanning the flames of prejudice and then sit back and watch. What they do is a crime against their own people.

[beehive21-2009]

New York is a toilet, scum killing scum,wonder if the city of NY is doomed ? The Priest suck too.

[tucson23]

SusanHelit, how exactly did an unarmed man and his unarmed friends shoot at officers? Rubber bands? Besides, by your logic cops have no responsibility for their actions. Since they're doing us a favor, we should not worry if they kill innocent, unarmed people, right? We shouldn't worry if they play judge, jury, and executioner without worrying about pesky courts and their pesky justice. That liberal *** just gets in the way, right? Fool.

[jagee49]

I think we should go watch ball game or listen to some music. That%u2019s what we have put all are hopes in having a good time. A good time we have such short memories. Don%u2019t we. Stop complaining why does Shack, MJ, Kobe not complaint. Our trait is selfishness , it would seem. i

[achunkylover]

The problem no one seems to address in this issue is...the police found no weapon with or on the victims. Please be sure that if there had been weapons of ANY kind found, that information would have most certainly been forthcoming AND reported to both the media and the grand jury...thus precluding any "rhetoric" being allegedly spewed by civil rights leaders. In addition..."live by the sword, die by the sword - You wanna be a playa and a gagnsta [originally mispelled by US_Infidel]......take what you get-a"...would also encompass police who shoot unarmed individuals.

[susanhelit]

Tuscon - you'll notice I said, IF someone shoots at them. The report here claims that they did shoot, and if they did, how many times police shot back doesn't matter.

Whether or not the police were shot at - that does matter. But I was responding to a comment that seemed to feel it unfair that the groom only got one or two shots off against 50 - and that I have no problem with at all. You shoot at a cop, or anyone else, you deserve whatever you get.

Up until now, we've had two sides, both biased - what the police said, and what the wedding party said. Both of these have reasons to lie, neither's word can be completely trusted. Now, we've got a 3rd party. If he's trustworthy, what he says will put me over the edge on this case.

[us_infidel]

That liberal *** just gets in the way, right?
Posted by tucson23 at 02:53 PM : Mar 15, 2007

The cops said they tried to run them down with their car. Were you there? I'm guessing, no. Why blacks are up there trying to make a racial issue out of it is beyond me. Half the cops doing the shooting were black.

Can a light skinned black be prejudiced against a dark skinned black??? Just asking.

[ammermantm]

The amount of racist comments onhere is really depressing. none of you were there, none of you know what kind of person this man was. "live by the sword"? how do you know if this guy ever spent any time in a gang? I bet he was in the chess club and played D&D. how are your stereotypes now?

[socialla]

Why does america assume anytime black men are gathered together they have to be thugs or liven the thug life, the real THUGS are in the White House. If we really cared about crime we would get some of these child molesters off the street instead of letting them free, and they aint in the HOOD!!!

Disgusted

[us_infidel]

how are your stereotypes now?
Posted by Ammermantm at 03:06 PM : Mar 15, 2007

Right, he was a vitruous man......going to a strip club on the eve of his wedding whilst trying to run down cops with his car. My bad. Don't be haten'......

[oimiass]

Let's keep the discussion fair and balanced. Racist comments indicate a lack of capacity for intelligent argument. The widely accepted facts are as follows:

1. A man in his car is shot at 50+ times by nonuniformed police officers.
2. No weapon was found on the man.
3. No eyewitness comes forward despite wide coverage of the shooting for several weeks.
4. Suddenly, as a grand jury inquest winds down, some guy shows up and says he knows what happened.

What say ye?

[us_infidel]

Disgusted
Posted by socialla at 03:15 PM : Mar 15, 2007

Yeah, I feel your pain. Truth be told, blacks bring it on themselves. They go out of their way to separate themselves from mainstreem America. Young people dress like thugs and act like thugs.

Let's put it this way.......if you and your children were on an island, and there were 10 different kinds of snakes on the island....and 8 out of the 10 are deadly. You or your kids confrnt a snake. Are you going to take the time to analyze its upbringing and socioeconomic status or are you going to make a broad, PREJUDICIAL assumption based on odds and facts and just kill it?

I remember high school......if a black kid wanted help in math, his "friends" ragged him about "going white." What the hell is that all about? If blacks want to continue living in teh past and blaming everyone else for their problames, fine with me.

Of course, there are exceptions. I served with a lot of fine black men and women in the army. But they are only about 10%. A very small portion of the black community.

[susanhelit]

Race, I agree, doesn't have a thing to do with this case.

First - no gun is needed - attempting to run someone down with your car is a violent and quite potentially fatal. So - a gun isn't required for there to be a threat. However - this witness says there was one, and says the guy he saw with the gun ran off. I haven't tracked this story - but I think some of the groom's party did run away, get away? Plenty of time to hide a gun - you sure don't want to get caught with it! If one of your buddies is shot, you'd grab his gun during a gun battle - right? So - no gun - it means something, but it's not conclusive.

As to nonuniformed - if you are a threat to any person, and that person shoots at you - that's not really a problem, is it? If instead of police, the groom's party tried to run down a bunch of random guys who turned out to be a good, law abiding, gun club who all had guns and were shot - you wouldn't be surprised by that -right? The question is - was there a threat. Did they try to ram, did they shoot at this other group of people.

[pghlady3]

the only reason 'race' is a part of this is because Sharpton, Jackson, and the others are poor and out of a job if there isn't any. They are the ones constantly using the 'race' card. Get rid of them and it's just this crime or that.

[jetlizhan]

50 bullets?? on an unarmed man?? i'm white and i have to agree, this is pointing towards racially motivated. this is absolutely horrible and i feel so much compassion for his new bride and both families. i hope they get justice.

[socialla]

I can see your point about sterotyping someone from the outside, but it is still not fair, if I see a white guy with crazy hair, boots and a long trench coat I dont say columbine part ii, I say this is a kid expressing himself, when I see a young black man dressed in baggy pants, gold teeth I say the same thing, I dont assume he is going to rob me, America has given black man this stigma not black people, Elvis brought something to world they had never seen, new fresh different, But so did Motown, but whites sterotyped black music, everything black does not have to equal bad, maybe we should take more time to really understand each other, and stop judging and pointing the finger. This is a sad, pitiful generation of people, filled with hate and self loathing and that has nothing to do with color it is self hate, white and black

[delta5243]

usmcvn, that has got to be the funniest thing I've heard all day.....thank you.

[delta5243]

couldn't agree more.

[delta5243]

here's my question......since were all sure this is not about going to trial...how much of a cut does Al get from the settlement ???? 20 percent, you know they couldn't have done it without him.

[sclaires]

I know what is wrong with Sharpton and that is he has discovered he might have some white blood in him and he doesn't like that.

[us_infidel]

This is a sad, pitiful generation of people, filled with hate and self loathing and that has nothing to do with color it is self hate, white and black
Posted by socialla at 03:37 PM : Mar 15, 2007

It would be nice. I live in GA and I've seen some of the most redneck looking jokers you'd ever see stop on the side of the road and change a tire for a black lady. It always does my heart good to see it.

Unfortunately, I don't see it happening. Too much damage has been done over too many years. It started with welfare in the 60's - robbing people of their dignity. We really have no one to blame but ourselves.

Throughout our short history, blacks have fought for America even before they themselves had the rights and priviliges America promised to all. No one appreciates that more than I.

But you can't live in the past. What's done is done. More than enough equal opportunities exist, but they hardly get utilized. You can't live someone's life for them, just like you can whip democracy on Iraq. If the change doesn't come from within the black community, it won't come.

And I don't see any changes on the horizon - sorry to say.

[delta5243]

BBOC77, I'm not saying what happend is OK, I'm saying look at what Al has turned this into....how much can I, I, I, I, I, get out of this.

[agnim]

"sharpton is smelling his self and black america needs to put him in the trash!
Posted by amerigirl28 at 02:35 PM : Mar 15, 2007"

LOL

Amerigirl, some will conclude that it's more the case that you are smelling your own bloody tail and transferring the scent to Reverend AL. LOL

If people like Sharpton weren't around to SHINE THE SPOTLIGHT ON NYPD POLICE BRUTALITY, then more of these cases would happen more often; and the murdering police would get away more often.

Then NYC would have to rely on something like a 911 to cleanse itself of those murderers!
So you see, little mind, people like Sharpton does a valuable job NOT JUST FOR BLACK PEOPLE BUT FOR WHITE PEOPLE AND ALSO FOR ALL AMERICANS.
For if the NYPD wickedness is not cured, then NYC will earn even more 911's
or Gun Nut shooting up unarmed police! OK?

[oimiass]

Susan Helit,

Interesting comments--thanks for keeping them to a discussion about the facts. About whether the police can shoot at a driver who supposedly wants to run them down with his/her car, I just listened to an interview by NYC police commissioner Ray Kelly in which he said, and I quote him verbatim, except for my inclusion in parenthesis:

"As far as to a policy of using deadly force against a vehicle, we have a policy that prohibits that if the only deadly force that's used against you (the police, that is) is the vehicle itself."

That's why whether or not there was a gun in the car that night is important.

[delta5243]

Agnim, nobody is suprised about that comment coming from you, it was just a matter of time....

[whatithink-2009]

To Oimiass,

It would be nice if people tried to gather all the facts before coming to a conclusion. You keep saying that the driver tried to run over a police officer and that gave the police officer the right to kill him. What you have failed to mention is that the police officer was not dressed like a police officer (that is, plain clothing) and he stood in front of the car with a gun pointed at the driver. I wonder what you would do late at night if someone was dressed in plain clothing standing in front of your car pointing a gun at you?

[delta5243]

the thing I haven't heard anyone even consider is, what if the cops where telling the truth, what if.............. !!!!!!! but no worries, Al would never let that be the case.

[dukeudevil]

It is quite amazing--and saddening--the degree of racism shown in too many of these remarks. As a rule--and a black person, I often disagree with Sharpton, but with the continuing battle against racism that these messages paint I thank him for being a loud and even somewhat self-serving bullhorn.

Yes, something does stink now at the very last minute. That would apply were either side to generate a heretofore unknown and surprise witness. It's only common sense.

To many here, black and white (and other), how about gathering some real facts before degenerating the argument to one of nothing more than racial factions?

[delta5243]

Al has proven himself time and time and time again to me. I don't give him one iota of credibility.

[godi70]

In America, our new idea of civilization is with weapons to handle.
We should look ours schools and count how many weapons are daily in the hand of children discovered.
The police today are acting like in the far west 200 years ago. Then were another idea about civilization, killing Indians owner of this country.
A confuses American way of life%u2026%u2026%u2026%u2026.

[whatithink-2009]

To Delta5243,

What if the police were telling the truth about what?

[oimiass]

Whatithink,

Ithink you haven't read my earlier comments. I'll repost them for you to see. I was just responding to Susan Helit's challenge that the police were justified for shooting at Bell & Co. because they tried to run them down...

From me, earlier:

Let's keep the discussion fair and balanced. Racist comments indicate a lack of capacity for intelligent argument. The widely accepted facts are as follows:

1. A man in his car is shot at 50+ times by nonuniformed police officers.
2. No weapon was found on the man.
3. No eyewitness comes forward despite wide coverage of the shooting for several weeks.
4. Suddenly, as a grand jury inquest winds down, some guy shows up and says he knows what happened.

[braniff77]

Only one person here has noted that at least 2 of the 5 cops were also black (the 5th was undercover and we don't know what he is). So how has this become a race vs. race issue?
For those of you not from the NY area, you should know that Rev. Sharpton is always on the side of the victims, and never the police.

[whatithink-2009]

To Delta5243,

You just answered your previous question. Blacks in America have had a far worse experience with police officers than you have had with Al Sharpton. I'm not sure what he has personally done to you. But, if it is enough to lose credibility, I'd suggest you take a long history review of police-African American relations from slavery to present. That might answer why the credibility has been lost...if it ever existed.

[whatithink-2009]

To Delta5243,

You just answered your previous question. Blacks in America have had a far worse experience with police officers than you have had with Al Sharpton. I'm not sure what he has personally done to you. But, if it is enough to lose credibility, I'd suggest you take a long history review of police-African American relations from slavery to present. That might answer why the credibility has been lost...if it ever existed.

[susanhelit]

Sharpton is so unconcerned about if he is right or wrong, has been on the wrong side of enough of these cases - I think you're wrong - I think he's a net negative for battling against racism. You hear Sharpton, and you think that the case must be invalid. Jesse Jackson is far more credible, but Sharpton just doesn't seem to care about truth or not. Too many people have had their trust and belief abused by him for him to be anything other than a negative.

A last minute witness definitely does lead to credibility problems - but they are sometimes real, and not all that uncommon (on either side of the fence - the last minute witness who proves a black defendant's alibi is not unknown either!). People who are afraid to come forward wait until the last minute because they hope someone else will come forward, and they won't have to. Sad fact is that being a witness means someone may want to kill you to silence you - fear is not surprising - no matter which side the witness supports.