Jan 5, 2008 11:54 pm US/Eastern
Police-Involved Shooting Leaves Man Dead
NYPD Says Victim Had Gun
QUEENS (AP) ―
A man running from the police pointed a loaded gun at a pursuing officer and was shot and killed early Saturday, authorities said.
Officers said Ronnie Smalls, 22, was holding a loaded .380-caliber semiautomatic handgun when he was killed shortly before 2 a.m. in Queens, said police Chief Michael Collins.
Collins said the shooting "appeared to be within department guidelines."
Smalls was walking with another man a few blocks from his home in the Arverne section of the Rockaways when three plainclothes officers recognized him from a previous incident and sought to detain him, Collins said.
In that earlier episode, in November, Smalls had run away from officers who suspected he had a gun, police said.
When two of the officers approached on foot Saturday, Smalls began running, police said. While the two officers chased him, the third followed in an unmarked car, sirens blaring.
The officer in the car said he saw Smalls pull out a gun and point it at his closest pursuer. Smalls tripped or was tackled to the ground, and the officer who had been running closest behind him fired four times as he grappled with Smalls, striking Smalls at least twice in the head and leg, Collins said.
The chief said it was not yet clear whether Smalls had fired his gun.
The slain man's father, Reginald Smalls, questioned whether the shooting was justified.
"From what I see, he was brutally beaten and shot," he told 1010 WINS radio.
Collins said witnesses heard the officers identify themselves as police and order Smalls to drop his gun. He had been arrested at least nine times. There was no listed phone number for his home.
Smalls was declared dead at the Peninsula Hospital Center. The officer who fired at him, a 24-year-old with three years on the force, was treated for minor injuries.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Comments