Video: NYPD Kicks Door Before Shooting Unarmed Teen

Surveillance video outside the Bronx home of Ramarley Graham shows police struggling to enter the residence and kicking in a door moments before an NYPD officer shot and killed the unarmed 18-year-old in his bathroom. While surveillance footage from a neighboring home showed Graham running down the street with police pursuing, this footage obtained by WPIX 11 shows Graham casually entering his house. Seconds later two NYPD officers with their guns drawn attempt to break down the door.

Commissioner Ray Kelly told reporters on Friday that the officer who shot Graham, 30-year-old Richard Haste, shouted "Show me your hands!" and "Gun! Gun!" at the teenager before shooting him in the chest in his bathroom. But the only other person in the apartment at the time, Graham's 58-year-old grandmother Patricia Hartley, told the Times through friend of the family Carlton Berkley that she heard no such thing. Additionally, residents of the apartment dispute the NYPD's assertion that the officers announced themselves when forcibly entering their home.

Also at issue is the manner in which Hartley was treated: Berkley says she was held at the 47th Precinct for seven hours so that she could give police a statement. "She gave it against her will," Berkley, a retired police detective says. "She didn't want to speak to police." Paul Browne, the NYPD's spokesperson, said that Hartley was "naturally upset but cooperative," and said she actually spent five and a half hours speaking with police.

Commissioner Kelly told reporters on Friday that Hartley "certainly should have been shown a sensitivity on that issue. I would hope that she was. If not…we'll certainly investigate." Officer Haste, a three-year veteran, and another Sergeant who was in the stairwell, have both been placed on desk duty.

Despite twice reporting over radio communications that Graham had a gun, police searched Graham's apartment and other residences in the home and found no firearms. Graham was killed in his bathroom, allegedly dumping a small amount of marijuana into the toilet. Police accounts that Graham had struggled proved to be false. Commissioner Kelly told reporters that the case may be handed over to a grand jury to determine whether a crime was committed.

"Why would you break in a house and shoot a young man and kill him?" Rev. Al Sharpton said yesterday. "You cannot get to a conclusion without starting with the premise. The premise is wrong. They had no business breaking in the house."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Christopher Robbins in News on February 5, 2012 11:10 AM

Comments [rss]

HpPavilion22

Gurantee the cops get off scot free

HpPavilion22

I would not be surpised if he did not even have any weed.. cops just shot him while he was sitting on the toliet minding his own business.. then planted thier own weed in his sink and toliet.. having personally been framed with possesion of crack when i have never even seen crack cocaine in my life.. I know very well how dirty the NYPD can be.. and no I do not hate cops just dirty ones..

bob the gunslinger

typical bloomberg gestapo police tactics!

idontwork worker

For all the Lawyers out here that know nothing about the law. Emergencies/Hot PursuitThe rationale here is similar to the automobile exception. Evidence that can be easily moved, destroyed or otherwise made to disappear before a warrant can be issued may be seized without a warrant. Furthermore, if a suspect enters private property while being pursued by officers, no warrant is required to enter that property in order to continue pursuit, even if the suspect is in no way connected with the property owner.

Jeff Campbell

Ever notice when a Black man gets killed for no reason all the Neo-Nazi's show up and cheer for the Cops that kill more innocent people than criminals do ?.

Jeff Campbell

And now we know why Bloomberg wants Guns banned, so Cops can execute people that can't defend themselves.

Guest

The cops have become the criminals in this city and should be treated as such. I wonder if I as a citizen have the legal authority to place a cop under citizen's arrest. If he/she resists am I allowed to put a bullet into them?

Wendell M Watson

FUCK
FUCK
FUCK

FUCK THA POLICE!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

Edward Harrison

Well, I read all the posts so far and Ive gotta say, some here have shit for brains....Look at the facts...1- Kid WASNT in lockup so any prior criminal activity has already been adjudicated and thus not permissible in court nor should it have any legal bearing on any current activity legal or otherwise so the " the crook had it coming" crowd is totally wrong.
2- Unless there is more to the story that is not being told, I - you or the guy in question is under NO legal obligation to OBEY a cop beyond identifying ourselves... if under arrest ask for a lawyer but never speak to a cop...
3- For those of you that keep saying " If he wasnt a crook he wouldnt be dead" Sorry but I can provide you with MANY cases of cops killing people who were guilty of nothing so before flapping your lips you might want to do a bit of research.

Guns

Oh yeah. I'm white. But not stupid. :-)

MarkSimeone

That's quite a recording. If I really believed that Graham had a gun, I wouldn't chance kicking in the door like that, I would expect to get shot and killed when he unloads that firearm through the door.

R.I.P Graham http://media.ny1.com/media/201...

Disciple_of_MrMet

It makes me sick how people on this site actually defend this criminal like he actually gave a shit about any of you. He would have robbed and/or burglarized you if he was given the chance.

Eazy E

Let's all be good liberals and trash the police and feel sorry for minorities. Also, don't forget to scream and yell "racists."

Emmily_Litella

They protected this innocent from drugs by KILLING HIM in his own home. Good reporting Tricia.

nayerr

10 minutes from my house. Fuck the NYPD SCUM!!!!

Raymundo Az-Tek Valentin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

aktobk

i think these's guys got a lil too whipped up into a frenzy due to recent events. sadly wouldn't be surprised if somethin else like this happens again, sooner than usual.

not to excuse terrible behavior, but what's goin on in these guys heads? 2 shot cops in recent headlines, 1 fatal. people commenting on news sites threatening cops. now imagine if yer one of those good cops. and its assumed yer already a dick so people hate on you. your opinion eventually turns to not valuing protecting a population that spites you. thus becoming an asshole cop that eventually does stunts like this. pissing people off or scaring them, into fearing and hating the cops. making a bad name for a new group of good cops who get shit for it. and so on and so on.

shits just. whack.

napalm2

"now imagine if yer one of those good cops. and its assumed yer already a dick so people hate on you. your opinion eventually turns to not valuing protecting a population that spites you"

Or, if you have an ounce of humanity in you, you will acknowledge the fact that its no one's fault but their own.
If the good cops don't want to be assumed of being a bad cop, they will not tolerate this behavior from the bad cops and actually look to do something about it since they DID take an oath to serve and protect the public. Until the good cops come forward and help weed out this HUGE problem in our city with these pigs, they will also be looked at as bad cops.

aktobk

that is true. most of the crap like this though is everyday procedure handed down from on high. to which they deny when it's caught on film. an martyr the cops. mismanagement and corruption is ruining the nypd. the good cops that do speak out (adrian schoolcraft) against quotas and number fixing, are treated like bradley manning. there should be a federal probe. if there isn't one going on already.

napalm2

Officer Schoolcraft did a good job at exposing the crimestat manipulation, but unfortunately, that was just scratching the surface. And look what they did to him. They threw him in a psych ward. Just imagen what they would do if a cop dared to come coward about the racist "shoot to kill" culture that cops are taught in training?
The more disturbing fact about it is that a good cop who speaks out against the corruption is called a snitch or wistleblower by his fellow officers and he will be dealt with, which gives a clear indication that there is CLEARLY a criminal mentality within the department that they will do anything to maintain.
No different than the regular street criminals who protect their criminal activities by weeding out all potential snitches.