Jul 22, 2008 6:49 pm US/Eastern
Ex-NYPD Sgt. Shot, Killed In Cop-Involved Shooting
Jason Aiello Found At A Staten Island Home Acting 'Irrationally,' Waving Gun And Eventually Firing On Police
Reporting
Jay Dow
STATEN ISLAND (CBS) ―
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Cops responded to a home in Staten Island where they found Jason Aiello, a former NYPD Sgt. acting irrationally in the street, waving a handgun. A struggle ensued that eventually ended with Aiello shot and killed.
Michael Oates/CBS
Law enforcement sources confirmed what friends and neighbors saw and heard; that the man killed in the fatal Tuesday morning police-involved shooting on St. Mary's Avenue was retired NYPD Sergeant Jason Aiello.
Police say the 36-year-old got into a shootout with the officers in front of his St. Mary's Avenue home, with his wife and three young children nearby.
"It's crazy. I can't understand how all of this happened like that," said neighbor Josephine Rodriguez.
A motive is still unclear. But it's possible Aiello's past may have been troubling him. He was the private bodyguard for jeweler and alleged Genovese crime family associate Louis Antonelli. He was sitting in a local restaurant in April when Antonelli was gunned down in the parking lot. Law enforcement sources tell CBS 2 that federal and local authorities have been investigating whether Aiello played a role in Antonelli's murder.
The Staten Island DA and the FBI are currently investigating the case. Tuesday morning, neighbors say, Aiello was uncharacteristically agitated.
"I saw him when he was fighting in the street with his wife. He wasn't fighting. He was screaming and yelling," said store owner Mote Fadel, "he looked upset. He was talking to somebody in a car."
A family friend told CBS 2's Jay Dow off camera that Aiello was under a lot of pressure, and went to the hospital Monday night because he was "stressed." The family friend went on to say that Aiello came home from the hospital and "went to go get his gun."
"The cops showed up, and then I heard shots. Like maybe three or four minutes worth. I think I heard like 7 shots," said Fadel.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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