NYPD cop killed by another NYPD cop while chasing man breaking into his vehicle

[Liberal_in_LA]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/05/29/ny.officer.killed/index.html

By Cheryl Robinson
CNN

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A police officer was shot to death by another officer as he was chasing a man he saw breaking into his car in New York's East Harlem neighborhood, authorities said.

Officer Omar Edwards was not wearing a bulletproof vest and did not fire a shot, authorities say.

New York Police Department Officer Omar Edwards, 25, was shot twice about 10:30 p.m. Thursday just blocks from the precinct where he had finished his shift. He was pronounced dead less than an hour later at Harlem Hospital.

Edwards, in plainclothes, had just left the Housing Bureau Station House on East 124th St., said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. As Edwards approached his car, he saw a man rummaging through it.

"We believe that at this point, Officer Edwards, with his gun drawn, chased the individual north to 125th Street and east toward First Avenue," Kelly said at a news conference in New York early Friday at Harlem Hospital.

Edwards was not wearing a bulletproof vest and did not fire a shot, Kelly said.

Plainclothes officers patrolling the neighborhood in an unmarked vehicle saw the chase and went after Edwards and the suspect.

"One of the officers, after exiting the vehicle, fired six times from a 9 mm Glock," Kelly said.

Edwards was shot in the chest and arm. It was not clear whether any of the officers had identified themselves as law enforcement.



Officer Omar Edwards was not wearing a bulletproof vest and did not fire a shot, authorities say.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Couple of things.

Officer Edwards was a black cop killed by a white cop who didn't know he was a cop. It was assumed he was in the commission of crime. Yet while Edwards was pursuing his own suspect, note that he didn't shoot or threaten to shoot while in chase. Both cops had similar education in police procedure, yet one didn't use deadly force.

[ThirdWorldJohn]

2. Yea, I read this earlier. Figured the shot cop was black. Was he shot in the back? n/t

[no_hypocrisy]

4. Yes, he was shot in the back.

[Historic NY]

3. Another needless tragedy of shoot first, ask questions later....

it happens more often than reported.