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The Story Of The Friendly Fire Cop Shooting On Long Island

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John Cafarella
The sad story of the Long Island cop who was fatally shot by an MTA officer outside a satanist's home in Massapequa Park gets a closer look in the Times today. It's an engrossing read, detailing the chain of events that culminated in retired NYPD sergeant in Massapequa Park yelling "Gun!" and Officer Glenn Gentile shooting Geoffrey J. Breitkopf dead. If you're familiar with the tragic incident, here's what's new:

Theresa Kelly, the retired hairdresser who called 911 after Anthony DiGeronimo banged on her car hood brandishing knives, has disparaged Cafarella's actions at the crime scene. Cafarella, 58, lived nearby and was driving past the DiGeronimo house when officers were confronting the emotionally disturbed man. He tried to help persuade him to drop the knives, and after DiGeronimo was fatally shot, he stayed on the scene. According to Kelly, Cafarella was "running all over like a lunatic, shouting orders; he caused a lot of chaos."

Kelly claims Cafarella, wearing a red fleece, cursed at her to leave and kicked her car door shut. And when her son tried to come to her aid, other officers, including possibly Cafarella, refused to let him get to her, threatening him with pepper spray until he left. The Times speculates that the heated altercation with Kelly's son may have been on the officers' minds when Breitkopf arrived on the scene in plainclothes, carrying a rifle.

Cafarella admits he might have yelled "He's got a gun!" Officer Gentile did not know Officer Breitkopf, and when another officer grabbed Breitkopf to stop him, this caused him to turn slightly toward Gentile, who is believed to have fired without declaring, "Police! Don't Move!" The plainclothes officer is then supposed to say "Police! Don't shoot!" But the tragedy unfolded so swiftly he didn't have a chance. The Times reports that as Officer Breitkopf lay dying, Cafarella rushed over and ripped the rifle out of his hands. At that moment, one officer nearly shot Cafarella, while another grabbed him by the throat. At this point, Cafarella identified himself as a retired police officer who was "on the job."

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Comments [rss]

  • m015094

    The the good thing about this story is that there is one less Anthony DiGeronimo.

  • 100

    This sad story points out how profoundly misguided is the idea that having more guns in our society would somehow make mass shootings, such as the one a few months ago in Arizona, less likely. The gun activists claim that if more citizens were armed, murderers would be shot down before they claimed too many lives. But if even trained police officers cannot keep things clear at a chaotic crime scene, how can we expect regular people not to end up killing each other and escalating a dangerous situation?

  • Bernie_Geotz_Squirrel_Luv

    Why was he at Kelly's house and at that kid's DeGeronimo's house?
    Too many chefs in the massepequa park kitchen.

  • Rocknrope

    This whole sad story can be summed up in once sentence: "Old interfering idiot gets a cop killed."

  • This is such a sad article—and it seems like a real clusterf***. And it makes living on Long Island sound terrible, if it's filled with active and retired cops flocking to crime scenes.

  • Spirit of 76

    Jen! Such language! Do you kiss your baby with that mouth... er, fingers... uh, touch your baby... oh, you know what I mean!

    Honestly, I don't know how Cafarella sleeps at night after that incident. And if he sleeps well, I would take a long, hard look at any incidents he was involved in when he was on the force.

  • wow, that is messed up

  • silver

    Big dick on the schoolyard.

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