May 19, 2007 6:12 pm US/Eastern
NYPD Investigates Fatal Shooting In The Bronx
Off-Duty Cop Fires At Driver When Driving Away
BRONX (CBS/AP) ―
An off-duty police officer trying to stop a man from leaving the scene of a car accident wound up shooting the driver in the back, fatally wounding him, authorities said.
The incident unfolded at 11:40 p.m. Friday in the Bronx, and ended when the bloodied man drove away from the officer, sideswiped another vehicle, then died as his minivan burned on a sidewalk.
Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said an investigation is under way to determine whether the shooting was justified.
The episode began, according to police, after the motorist slammed into a parked car on a side street near the officer's home.
Witnesses told investigators the minivan backed up, and drove about a block before the officer, who was on foot and out of uniform, caught up to the vehicle. He was standing at the driver's open door when the minivan lurched forward.
The officer discharged his 9mm pistol five times, hitting the driver once, police said.
A spokeswoman for the city medical examiner's office said the bullet entered the driver's back and pierced his heart, left lung and aorta, but he still managed to drive a block before his minivan struck another vehicle and caught fire. The car bumped onto a sidewalk and came to rest against the wall of a church.
The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy confirmed that 41-year-old Fermin Arzu was killed by a bullet wound, said Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner.
The police officer, Raphael Lora, 37, suffered a minor arm injury and was treated at a hospital and released. As is routine after such shootings, the officer was placed on administrative duty and the investigation turned over to the Bronx District Attorney.
Investigators remained at the scene hunting for evidence well into Saturday afternoon.
No weapons were discovered at the scene, and Browne said the department hadn't yet interviewed the officer, and couldn't say why he drew his weapon, or whether he had reason to fear that Arzu was armed.
A message left for a Patrolmen's Benevolent Association spokesman was not immediately returned Saturday, and Lora's number was unlisted.
Lora, who has been with the force since 1999, worked for a traffic enforcement task force in Manhattan and had never previously fired his gun at a person in the line of duty, police said.
The Police Department's use of deadly force has been under great public scrutiny since the Nov. 25 shooting of an unarmed man as he left a bachelor party at a Queens strip club.
On that night, five plainclothes police officers unloaded 50 shots on a car carrying a group of revelers. The would-be groom, Sean Bell, died instantly. Two of his friends were seriously wounded. None of the men had weapons.
A Queens grand jury later indicted two of the officers on manslaughter charges. A third officer faces a misdemeanor endangerment charge.
On Friday night, Bell's friends and relatives, and activists including the Rev. Al Sharpton, celebrated what would have been his 24th birthday.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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