Cop's Shooting of Armed Teen Was Justified, NYPD Says

A bit more detail has emerged regarding the Tuesday afternoon shooting of a teen who pointed an unloaded gun at an unidentified rookie NYPD officer in Brownsville. NYPD spokesman Paul Browne tells the Times that 18-year-old Akeem Harvey was stopped by officers for a "stop-and-frisk" because he was "wearing a hat and bandanna in a way that is associated with the Crips gang." When one officer noticed Harvey's bullet holder, he allegedly ran from the cops, but stopped when his revolver dropped out of his pants leg. The NYPD says Harvey picked it up and crouched, pointing the gun at the first officer, who was about five feet away. After Harvey ignored the officer's orders to "Drop it," the cop fired once, striking the teen in the chin. According to the police spokesman, the officer acted within the department’s guidelines; Harvey is listed in stable condition in Brookdale University Hospital.

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By John Del Signore in News on February 12, 2009 11:26 AM

Comments [rss]

NannyState

Will Akeem Harvey be writing a trust check to pay those medical bills or whip out his AMEX Black Card?

nycnyc

Great job by the cops. A guy, more than likely, who is a scum of the earth gangbanger, is carrying a illegal gun and gets shot by cops. IF this unproductive gangbanger was not stopped by the NYPD he would have probably ended up robbing one of your family members OR hurting some innocent person for gang initiation....then people would say, 'the cops are never around when a thug robs us'.

Well there you have it...the cops were around before this thug used his illegal gun on an innocent person.

Politburo

I think there should be more attention paid to the cop who dropped his cellphone and decided to break off pursuit to go and pick it up, missing the whole encounter.

S.D.

Attempted Suicide By Cop?

Maybe he forgot it was unloaded. In any case, Bizarre.

greatnhumble

Wait...the cop was 5 feet away and shot him in the chin? Who shoots someone in the chin? WTF? Jack Bauer would have handled this much better.

s0me_g0d

Because Jack Bauer is a real person. :o

virgil

he may have just been trying to knock him out.

Felix Hoenikker

Exactly. .357 or .45ACP >> 9mm

The Edge

Bigger bullets don't mean anything if you can't hit what you're aiming at.

Shot placement is key.

rcltrh

Oh so the little thug is still alive? What a shame. He'll live to shoot again some other day.

JacqueMehoff

what's a bullet holder?

UnrepentantFenian

It was probably a speed loader. It's a plastic cylinder that holds 6 bullets by the bottom. You use it to place all 6 rounds in the gun at once. There is a little knob on the back that releases them. This is what they look like:

<li>http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/HKS125-1.html</li>