Danroy Henry Autopsy Shows He Was Driving Drunk When Killed by Police, Says Source

VALHALLA, N.Y. (CBS/AP) An autopsy shows that college football player Danroy Henry was driving drunk when he was shot to death this month by police outside a bar in suburban New York City, a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press on Friday.

In response to the disclosure, Henry's father said, "If it's a part of the truth, so be it. But at the end of the day, the central question to us is, does that justify killing our son? ... We still fundamentally believe it isn't."

Henry's blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.13, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the autopsy report hadn't been released. The legal limit for driving in New York is 0.08.

Henry, a Pace University student from Easton, Mass., was shot in his car early Sunday, Oct. 17, after police responded to a disturbance outside a bar in suburban Thornwood, N.Y. Police said he sped away

and hit two officers after a policeman knocked on his car window. His family says witnesses contradict that account.

The Henrys' attorney, Michel Sussman said police were releasing the information "to change the conversation away from what police did."

"Probably several million college students have levels of 0.13 on Saturday night and early Sunday morning," Sussman said. "It had nothing to do with police approaching him."

Earlier Friday, Mount Pleasant Police Chief Louis Alagno held a news conference to counter claims that Henry was left to die without swift medical help. He presented a timeline indicating that the student received treatment from officers within three to five minutes of the first report of a shooting.

Lawyers for some witnesses have alleged that Henry was neglected for up to 15 minutes after he was shot.

Alagno said investigators are looking for a woman who gave Henry chest compressions before officers took over.

Alagno said the first report of a disturbance in the bar was at 1:19 a.m. Sunday, and the first report of a shooting was at 1:25 a.m. Between 1:28 and 1:30 a.m., officers noted Henry's "grave condition," retrieved oxygen and a defibrillator, and took over CPR from the woman. By 1:35 a.m., Henry was loaded on a stretcher and wheeled to an ambulance, he said.

Bonnie Zelman, an attorney for another shooting victim that night, Pace student Daniel Parker, said, " I don't buy it." She called Alagno's account a cover-up.

A union representing one of the officers who fired on the car, Pleasantville Officer Aaron Hess, said Hess "acted in accordance with his training and as required under the circumstances."

The other officer who fired at the car has been identified as Mount Pleasant Officer Ronald Beckley.

A preliminary autopsy confirmed "death by gunshot," Alagno said. He did not say which officer's bullet caused the death or how many times Henry was hit. He said the investigation will take months.

COMPLETE COVERAGE OF DANROY HENRY ON CRIMESIDER