The defense attorney of one of the men accused of beating up an off-duty police officer says his client will be cleared. Police Officer Eric Hernandez so badly injured when a group of men beat him at a White Castle that he was seemingly unable to hear an on-duty police officer's request for him to lower his gun, only the other officer to shoot him. The Bronx DA released footage of an interview with the three men who were allegedly harrassing a White Castle employee, only for Hernandez to intervene and a fight to start. Edwin Rivera said that Hernandez never identified himself as a police officer, and then showed he had a gun:

“He’s looking around, and he’s eating his french fries, looking around like he’s about to do something. So that’s when I came and I hit him, and then I threw him to the side — and I didn’t think that all my friends was going to jump in and start kicking.”

The mother of police officer Eric Hernandez who died from shots fired by another officer is filing a lawsuit for $50 million in damages. Hernandez, who was off-duty when he visited a Bronx White Castle, had been beaten by a group of men and was crawling outside, with his gun in hand, when police officer Alfredo Toro responded to the scene. Toro, not realizing Hernandez was a fellow officer, shot him in the legs and abdomen when Hernandez didn't lower his gun. There is thought that Hernandez also thought Toro might have been another attacker, and doctors believe the beating affected his ability to hear. His mother, Cynthia Salich, said, "Eric is obedient. When the officers told Eric to drop the gun, he was ailing. The police officer didn't give Eric reasonable time and opportunity to lower his gun against the person he thought had attacked him inside the restaurant." What Gothamist is curious about are the reports that Hernandez was drunk when he went to the White Castle - and the fact that officers should not draw their guns when drinking. Should Hernandez's impaired judgement be on trial? more ›

Eric Hernandez, the off-duty police officer who was taunted and beaten by a group of men at a Bronx White Castle last month, only to be shot multiple times by another police officer who thought he may have been a troublemaker as well, died yesterday after his family took him off life support. Hernandez had been in a coma for over a week, undergoing many surgeries including the partial amputation of a leg; tests showed little brain activity. Hernandez had been on the force for two years and will be given a full inspector's funeral. He would have been 25 years old later this month. more ›

Police Officer Eric Hernandez, the star of the NYPD football team, had part of his right leg amputated as his injured leg's condition worsened. Hernandez's right and left legs, as well as stomach, were shot when a fellow police officer, Alfredo Toro, appeared on the scene of a brawl at a Bronx White Castle. Hernandez had been beaten by a group inside the fast food joint, and was trying to leave when Toro came. It seems that Hernandez thought that Toro might be another attacker, and Toro shot when Hernandez did not put down his gun, not knowing he was a cop. A fourth member of the gang turned himself in as the lawyer for another man, Edwin Rivera, claimed his client was a hero for beating up Hernandez, saying the client thought Hernandez was a robber and might kill people at the White Castle; Commissioner Kelly said, "It was plain for anyone who saw the tape that Rivera initiated this cowardly attack." more ›

Three men suspected of beating off-duty police officer Eric Hernandez (pictured) at a White Castle in the Bronx were arrested. Edwin Rivera, Nelson Rodriguez, and Daryl Massey apparently knew Hernandez was a cop before beating him repeatedly; the White Castle surveillance tape released by the police led to tips about them. While battered, Hernandez had crawled outside, only to be shot by another police officer, Alfredo Toro, who thought he was one of the gang members. The NYPD believes that Officer Toro's shooting was justified; the Times points out that Toro hasn't been interviewed yet and that Commissioner Kelly is shifting attention to Hernandez's health. He was shot three times, once in each thigh and one in the stomach - the Times said "arteries feeding his lower limbs were shredded, flooding his abdominal cavity with blood." And as many papers have noted, Hernandez was a star on the NYPD's football team. more ›

More news about the wild shooting of the off-duty police officer Eric Hernandez by another cop at a Bronx White Castle during massive confusion (there was a gang present): First of all, it looks like Hernandez was drunk, as his blood alcohol was twice the legal limit when he was admitted to the hospital for the multiple gunshots. And police officers are not supposed to draw their guns when they are drunk; at the time Hernandez drew his gun, he had been beaten. Second, surveillance tapes show him getting brutally beating by the gang - which may have affected his ability to hear the other officer's warning shouts to drop his gun. Police only realized Hernandez was a cop when they found his badge in his pocket - after police officer Alfredo Toro, who responded to the scene earlier, had shot Hernandez. The tapes also show how an argument between a group of people and the White Castle manangement turned into a fight between the gang and Hernandez; plus how Hernandez crawled outside and how the group stole his burgers and hat. more ›