They are supposed to be trained for these situations, or at least trained how to aim and properly discharge their semi-automatic weapons.  I really don't think it's asking too much for them to do better than 2 out of 73.  Particularly when it means that they're spraying 71 mis-aimed bullets into a neighborhood full of people, with potentially lethal consequences for innocent people.  If a non-police officer did this, even in response to being shot at, they'd charge him with reckless use of a firearm at the very least.  Frankly, if they're going to continue to be this amateurish, I'd rather they let the guy get away than to turn a highly populated public street into a shooting gallery.

Next time the cops will wait until they got shot or an innocent person gets shot and then the 6 or 7 cops that were there will only fire one shot from "x" amount of feet praying that one bullet stops the threat...........and people that are questioning how many times u hit someone compared to how many rounds were shot, put yourself in that position where ur gettting shot at and tell me how many rounds u fire and hit......think about 6 or 7 cops with 15 or so rounds in their gun shooting at a armed person....obviously there will be 70 rounds...you dont just pull the trigger once and shoot the guy...this isnt TV

73 shots fired, and the perp only caught 2 of them?!?  Someone in the NYPD needs a refresher course in firearms use. 

In fact, given other incidents where NYPD officers have shot off dozens of rounds while barely hitting, or missing altogether, the person they were firing at, and thereby putting the very citizens they're supposedly protecting in even greater danger, perhaps the entire department needs a few remedial lessons.

I want to thank you for this post. It was apparent from all those who spoke of Denise Gay  in the news reports that she was a wonderful woman, and she will be greatly missed.

One look st the photo of her and you can just tell that she was a good soul.

i knew this lady personally.  she threw the best BBQs and block parties around.

what is so tragic is that she really was as nice as they come.  my best friend lives in her building, and she brought him and his roommates into the family of the block immediately.  they are a bunch of goofy white boys living in a mostly black neighborhood, but that didnt matter to her.  she wanted everyone to feel at home.

I've lived in some bad neighborhoods.  Various parts of Bushwick, Bed-Stuy, etc.  when my buddy invited me over to a BBQ at his place in Crown Heights, I was a little reluctant.  it wasnt far from where we lived in Bed-Stuy a year or two earlier, so I thought it would be a little sketchy.  When i got there, I was shocked to see that everyone, and i mean everyone, was on the stoop, having fun.  food everywhere, people hanging out, and Denise was at the center of all it.

I admit, before I saw that little slice of what life was like on that block, i had been pretty biased.  i thought, "if you live in a bad area, keep to yourself and don't bother anyone."  (that has NOTHING to do with race, its just that i always thought people who lived in those neighborhoods saw me as an outsider, and didnt want to have anything to do with me).  Denise changed my view on that instantly.

i introduced myself, she said "glad you're here.  grab a plate."  i then continued to shoot the shit with her all evening, where she introduced me to the whole block.  it was one of the most enjoyable nights of that summer, and not just because she made some serious amazing BBQ chicken.

She was like everybody's grandma.  she RAN that block.  everyone knew her.  even the little kids who she had no relation to listened to her like she was family, and she was the definitive matriarch of the community.  it doesnt surprise me at all that when she got hit, it was trying to rush everyone inside the building.  and i know that if i was there, even though i was a goofy white boy visiting her building, she would have thrown my ass through that doorway along with everyone else to get out of harm's way.

Denise showed me that in this city, it doesnt matter if you are black or white, rich or poor, you can hang out.  if you are nice and neighborly, none of that crap matters.  every time i talk to someone who is nervous about moving to a shitty neighborhood, i tell them about Denise.  about how if you aren't afraid, you can meet some really great people and they will take care of you.  and i think in the end thats what Denise did.  she took care of everyone.  family or not, friend or neighbor, she was there to look out for you and make you feel at home.

it goes without saying I'm deeply saddened by this.  it was just a few weeks ago that Denise and company threw another BBQ, and for whatever reason i didnt go.  and now i wish that i did, to see her on her stoop, where she always was, surrounded by kids, with her big laugh echoing down the block.

to me, it doesnt matter who fired the shot.  the end result is that this wonderful, welcoming, down right decent lady is no longer with us.

so next time you are walking home, smile, tip your hat, or whatever to your neighbor.  because they are people too, and if they are even half as great as Denise was, they are friend worth having.

-e.

I have to say, you story although with a tragic end, is very sweet. I am glad that you shared your experience with everyone. Hopefully more people will read your story and understand that Crown Heights, Bed Stuy.... ect. Are not Ghetto ( I hate that word) it's a place where people live and a community that inhabits it. When you disrespect and hide away you miss chances of meeting great people like Ms. Gay. Luckily you didn't. 

As a physician, over 18 years in Crown heights, every day I see hard working individuals getting on the trains to go to work, to provide for their families.  My patients tell me that they work hard so their children can go to private or charter schools to prevent their children from getting caught up in school violence that exist. The problem is that there is more crime, more drugs, more gangs and more innocent lifes taken in Crown Heights than say Park Slope. What is the answer, I do not have one.  I only know that I see sensless violence over minor offences which results in mothers and fathers to grieve.  Blame the Police?  Blame society?  Blame who ever you want.  The end result is to many innocent lifes are taken from random violence.  
 One of my co-workers on Monday on Clarkson Ave and Rockaway Boulvard was walking her 2 year old grandson.  An argument started between two man on the stoops and a man walking by.  The exchange intensified, and the man pulled out a hand gun.  My office manager picked up her grandson and ran as fast as she could.  She did not hear any gun shots.  She was so afraid, that she went back home and did not want to leave the house for the entire day.  Tell her their is not a problem with violence in Crown Heights.

Pierce, how familiar are you with handguns? Have you ever been in a firefight while armed with one, or with any other weapon? Just wondering.

unless Pierce is a law enforcement officer who has received training and a salary paid for by the public, his familiarity with firearms and gunfights is completely irrelevant to this conversation.

When you use language like "one of 73 bullets that rained down upon the neighboorhood in an orgy of violence by the NYPD," yes, it is somewhat relevant.

No, my familiarity with firearms and whether or not I have been in a firefight with a handgun is not relevant to the argument, under any circumstances. You're being lazy, and a bit silly.

Yes, it is. When you accuse someone of recklessness or negligence in the operation of a mechanical implement of any kind, it is pretty relevant to know how that that implement actually works.

You're getting desperate. It is not releveant. If a perp beats an old lady to  death with a shovel, the prosecutor does not qualify jurors based on whether or not they have owned or operated a shovel in the past."Mr. Jones do you think you can judge the right or wrong of the incident in qustion given your utter ignorance regarding the operation of a shovel?"

Silly.

 What matters, my friend, is the ability to reason,  the ability to differentiate right from wrong. You're being silly.

You equate a gun with a shovel, and I'm the one being silly? Also, your metaphor makes no sense, because you're not in the role of a juror here; you've designated yourself as accuser and prosecutor.

But yes, you're right. The ability to differentiate right from wrong is what matters. But what matters when differentiating right from wrong is knowing the facts of the situation. But we don't know the facts. I wasn't there and neither were you. The facts will come out soon enough; in the meantime, what you could do is at least learn the underlying background information, which, in this case, does involve how handguns work (by which I don't mean you have to learn how the internal mechanism works, I mean how accurate they are and under what conditions, how they're supposed to be used and how they're used in practice, etc.) and what the official procedures for their use are. But you're not interested even in that. All you care about is prejudice and hysteria ("rained down upon the neighborhood in an orgy of violence?" really? are you writing NY Post fan fiction?), and yet I'm the one that's "silly". 

You used the generic term "implement" . A shovel is an example  of a generic implement that could be used as an instrument of death. It's silly to argue that anyone here who comments on the incident needs some expertise on the "implement" used.

What is not silly is that 73 shots were  fired by police, my friend. No amount of weaseling on your part will escape that fact. No squirming  will escape the fact that Webster did not kill the innocent bystander, though others in this thread tried to hang him from a tree for that crime.  Most probably, a police bullet, one of 73 , killed that bystander.

How about you have some common decency and stop your blind defense of the police for just one moment and appreciate the fact that this innocent woman's life was lost. how about that?

The extent of my "defense" of the police is to suggest that we should maybe not jump to conclusions until we have as much information as we can have. You know, the whole "innocent until proven guilty" thing." Ever heard of that?

Not only have I heard of it, I clamored for it in this thread when some were declaring without question that Webster shot and killed the innocent bystander. You were silent when it came to "innocent until proven guilty" in that instance. I find that odd.

i still dont care if this woman died by NYPD fire. Blame the obamas that started this shit. You must be dumb as dirt to actualy go on this rant to try and ruin the lives of people who protect morons like you. Instead of putting the blame on the gorrillas that started this whole thing.

"i still dont care if this woman died by NYPD fire.. "

Lovely. This is what we are reduced to. Savages who are so intent on defending NYPD crimes that they will not only defend the killing of innocent victims, they will cheer for it.

I feel sorry for you, sharter. One day your soul will stand in judgement and you will answer for many things.

there will be no escape.

your missing the point moron. sure sucks an innocent old lady was shot. but its not nypd fault its the stupid ignorant black men who decided to "slap fight" on street then in turn decided to start shooting at each other and the cops. You cant be that stupid