Oopsy Daisy...
Posted on 11/25/2006 2:29:19 PM PST by Brilliant
NYPD bullet kills groom on wedding day
NEW YORK - A bachelor party at a strip club ended early Saturday with police opening fire on a group of men leaving the establishment, killing a groom on his wedding day and wounding two others, one critically.
There was no immediate explanation for what sparked the shooting, which drew angry protests from family members and the Rev. Al Sharpton. The New York Police Department's chief spokesman, Paul Browne, declined to comment.
As many as eight officers may have been involved in the shooting near the Kalua Cabaret in Queens, said Sgt. Mike Wysokowski, another department spokesman. There were no reports that any officers were wounded, Officer Kathleen Price said.
"First it was like four shots," said Abraham Kamara, 38, who lives a few blocks from the scene of the shooting and said he was getting ready for work at the time. "And then it was like pop-pop-pop like 12 times."
The intersection where the shooting occurred remained blocked off Saturday afternoon as police inspected a car and a minivan and placed dozens of crime scene markers on the ground where shell casings had been recovered.
Denise Ford, who said her son was one of the survivors, said the trio's car had hit an unmarked police vehicle. Police did not immediately confirm that either of the vehicles in the intersection belonged to the department.
"All I know, they was celebrating," Ford said of the men. She said the man who died was the groom. "The guy was getting married today."
Relatives identified the man killed early Saturday as Sean Bell, 23. Sharpton said Bell and his fiancee had two children, ages 5 months and 3 years.
Sharpton said after visiting the two wounded men — Trent Benefield, 23, and Joseph Guzman, 31 — that he was outraged to find the pair handcuffed to their hospital beds. He said one suffered 17 wounds, though it was unclear how many were bullet wounds, and the other man was shot three times.
"We're not anti-police ... we're anti-police brutality," Sharpton said.
Sharpton said family members told him that there were no guns in the young men's car and "there was no reason for the police to shoot."
"On the face of it, it seems to me to be certainly something that causes extreme alarm and must be thoroughly investigated," said the civil rights leader, who said he was called by a relative of Bell.
Robert Porter, who identified himself as a cousin of Bell, said about 250 people were invited to Saturday's wedding and were flying in from all over the country. He said his cousin wasn't the type to confront police and was "on the straight and narrow."
Roy Brown, who said he works as a photographer at the club, said sirens sounded not long after the three men left the club.
"They weren't rowdy or nothing like that," said Brown, 57.
The owner of the building, Juan Escobar, would not say who owned the Kalua Cabaret. A message seeking comment was left at a phone number listed for the club.
One of the wounded men was in critical condition at Mary Immaculate Hospital and the other was listed as stable.
In 1999, NYPD officers killed Amadou Diallo, an unarmed West African immigrant who was shot 19 times in the entry to his apartment building. The four officers in that case were acquitted of criminal charges.
In 2003, Ousmane Zongo, 43, a native of the western African country of Burkina Faso, was killed during a police raid on a warehouse where he repaired art and musical instruments. Zongo was shot four times, twice in the back.
Were these fake Baghdad police setting up a fake roadblock? No? Maybe there is more to the story.
"said the trio's car had hit an unmarked police vehicle."
Yeah. It's hard to imagine that they'd shoot them for hitting their car. There's gotta be more to it than what's here.
You also wonder why there would be 8 cops and an unmarked car there.
just the facts ma'am.
Bad journalism. He almost certainly really said, "All I know, they was celebratin'" .
That's just wrong.
I love the way these AP scumbags throw in something completely irrelevant at the end of the story.
Al Sharpton's name in a story means that whatever he says happened, never did.
It's been decades since I've been to a strip club, so I'm guessing that having staff photographers is some sort of newer trend?
And we're against race baiting.
Wouldn't it be nice to let the air clear and find out everything that happened before bringing out the 52-card deck of race cards?
If these guys were driving off falling down drunk how many innocent lives might have been saved?
That kind of cavalier attitude about "celebrating" and driving might play well in Uganda, but in civilized countries there are laws for a reason.
Do I know that's what happened? No.
Does past experience tell me something? Yes.
If the details are simply not there, I can be confident that details would not favor the "victims"!
Another Tawana Brawley moment??
Cops on the take?
What I have never figured out is how a groom can go to a bachelor party on the night before his wedding. That's insane unless he doesn't care how he feels during the wedding.
***Relatives identified the man killed early Saturday as Sean Bell, 23. Sharpton said Bell and his fiancee had two children, ages 5 months and 3 years. ***
One thing we know about this guy he doesnt buy anything without first trying it out.
Not enough information about the shooting part. I cant see 8 cops opening fire on a bunch of people peacefully walking out of a nightclub. What was the race of the Police Officers? One guy had 17 wounds but it was unclear if they were bullet wounds? That doesnt make much sense.
What do they have police inspectors for? Just tell Sharpton and he has all the answers.
This is what happens when New York City allows its police officers to have guns.
" I cant see 8 cops opening fire on a bunch of people peacefully walking out of a nightclub."
One of them may have reached for a cell phone...
"Relatives identified the man killed early Saturday as Sean Bell, 23. Sharpton said Bell and his fiancee had two children, ages 5 months and 3 years."
So...he has children and he was about to get married that very day - and he spent his last moments ogling other women's breasts and crotches.
How nice.
Uh, that's kind of a problem. There are a lot of stupid cops in the NYPD, thanks to the lowered standards in recent years. From all I have read of this incident, there was no justification for the use of lethal force.
Oopsy Daisy...
If the groom is marrying a gang-banging cracker-mom, then visiting the strip club the night before the wedding is simply par for the course.
You are taking Sharpton's word for the truth and being too polite. It is entirely likely that the dead groom was not the father, considering the circumstances which scream irresponsibility.
Was Sharpton at the strip club? Too often nothing good comes out of going to strip clubs and having strippers over, as the Duke lacrosse players can testify to.
Al, STFU you worthless POS.
"You are taking Sharpton's word for the truth and being too polite. It is entirely likely that the dead groom was not the father, considering the circumstances which scream irresponsibility."
possibly...I'm also thinking how sad it is that this was this man's last act before leaving this earth - ogling other women on the day before his wedding.
I suppose I take marriage too seriously.
I don't think you take marriage too sersiously. I'm married 30 years. My opinion is you don't know single guys the night before they get married. I was toasted! LOL
"My opinion is you don't know single guys the night before they get married. I was toasted! LOL"
Oh I know they get toasted...I remember everyone buying my husband shots the night before we were married.
But...the night before we were married was our rehearsal and dinner and we were together.
It's the ogling naked women thing that puzzles me.
If they want to ogle strippers - they have no business getting married. It is extremely disrespectful and adolescent.
Women under 50 still amaze me...no wonder my buddies who divorce their wives marry young women...dumb a$$ me...=s=
I would imagine that it started when the Polaroid camera came out. I'm sure that the real job title is something like "staff photographer/bouncer/mop-bucket-guy.
Big Al is on the take, I mean job. Where's Gloria Allred?
Just because you're a married man doesn't mean you're dead. Would you rather your husband went to a strip club and came home all excited, or just had a nice, quiet affair?
Thanks for adding reason to this thread. We don't know all the facts and this is a sad story -- not funny at all.
I think that was uncalled for.
Where I git my money...same place as Rev Jesse!"
The strip club was under police surveillance for prostitution, weapons and drug activity and one of Bell's buddies threatened an undercover cop in the club with a gun. Funny how Sharpton neglects to mention what happened between the perps and the undercover cops in the club.
Hey, it's much more fun when everybody just makes snap judgements that confirm pre-existing ideas.
So, what's the matter with you? Are you trying to rain on everyone's parade?
The dead guy and his friends threatened to shoot an undercover cop in the club and the undercover cop called for backup. The strip club is notorious for being busted multiple times for drug dealing, prostitution and weapons dealing. The dead guy and his friends shouldn't have threatened the undercover cop.
The article is unbelievably vague and short of information. But everyone has an opinion. This is one of those threads that makes Freepers look bad.
The dead guy and his friends threatened to shoot an undercover cop in the club which was under surveillance for drugs, prostitution and weapons. The perps got exactly what they deserved and Sharpton knows it.
It's true that adolescents are horny. Even older people are.
What exactly is a "gang banging cracker mom"? Does that mean she belongs to a street gang or engages in group sex or sex with gangsters or maybe she's a redneck mother or the mother of red necks or uses crack cocaine or some combination of some or all of the above?
I'm sooooo confused.
You're calling 'em perps. What did they perpetrate? A threat? To someone they didn't know was a cop maybe. For that, they deserve death? OK.
From where I sit, it's not that clear who the perps were in this deal - who was doing all the shooting? Maybe you have more info than I do, but the article doesn't make it clear that the 8 or 9 cops were in danger. Were both sides shooting or just one? I'd like to know the answer to that before passing judgment on the guys who got shot.
The perps threatened to shoot the undercover cop inside the club. The undercover cop called for backup. The perps ran ouf of the club, jumped into their car and rammed the backup van and hit one of the backup officers as they were coming to the undercover cop's aid. The perps most likely sold drugs to the undercover cop in the club. The full story will come to light very soon.
Here's the full story of what happened from Newsday with everything Sharpton doesn't want people to know...
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/am-shooting1126,0,793244.story?coll=ny-top-headlines
"Women under 50 still amaze me...no wonder my buddies who divorce their wives marry young women...dumb a$$ me...=s="
Ok...this makes no sense. So I guess my response is that men over 50 amaze me.
"Just because you're a married man doesn't mean you're dead. Would you rather your husband went to a strip club and came home all excited, or just had a nice, quiet affair?"
This is a false dichotomy. There is no either/or choice here.
I can oppose his going to strip clubs AND oppose his having an affair...and he expects the same of me.
Married men who don't go to strip clubs are not "dead" - they're just more mature than other guys.
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