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No Criminal Charges On Fatal Cop-on-Cop Shooting
By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 13, 2009
Modified Aug 13, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 13, 2009
Modified Aug 13, 2009
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A grand jury has voted not to indict an NYPD officer who fatally shot another officer chasing a thief through Harlem one rainy night at the end of May. Omar Edwards had just finished his shift and was not in uniform when he found a man breaking into his car. After a scuffle, he gave chase with his gun drawn, but was intercepted by plainclothes officer Andrew Dunton, who ordered him to drop his weapon. Edwards was fatally shot as he turned to face Dunton, and there are conflicting witness accounts as to whether Edwards identified himself as NYPD.
Dunton is white and Edwards was black, so the tragic incident struck a nerve with community activisits, black cops, and some officials, including Governor Paterson, who called upon the NYPD to improve training to prevent friendly fire situations. (The NYPD later starting showing a ten-year-old training video about friendly fire at roll call.)
Dunton, who has been in administrative duty since the shooting, may still face an internal Police Department review that could lead to disciplinary action. Earlier this month Edwards's mother lashed out at investigators and officials for handling the case poorly, telling NY1, "If this was Omar Edwards who shot—whatever his name is—Dunton, Omar Edwards would be sitting in jail right now waiting to be tried for murder. I would like to see him go to jail. He is going to go out and do the same thing again."
Tagged
andrew dunton
cop shooting
grand jury
innocent
nyc
omar edwards
trial
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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