Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Bronx Teen Did Not Struggle With Police Before Being Killed
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Feb 4, 2012
Modified Feb 4, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Feb 4, 2012
Modified Feb 4, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Commissioner Ray Kelly clarified yesterday that contrary to earlier reports, no struggle occurred between 18-year-old Ramarley Graham and the officer who fatally shot him in the bathroom of his Bronx home on Thursday. The Post reports that the two officers involved have been stripped of their weapons and assigned to desk duty, and the case will be presented to a grand jury to determine whether a crime was committed. "We're still evaluating the actions here," Kelly said. "We see an unarmed person being shot. That always concerns us."
According to Kelly, a narcotics team observing Graham making a drug deal (which we now know was a small amount of marijuana) noted over radio communications twice that it appeared that Graham had a gun because of the way he was adjusting his waistband.
Two officers then followed Graham to his house; unable to enter through the front door, they gained entry through the back, and then broke down the door to Graham's second-story apartment. The Commissioner stated that the 30-year-old officer who shot Graham shouted "Police! Don't move. Show me your hands! Show me your hands! Gun! Gun!" before firing. Graham's 58-year-old grandmother, Patricia Hartley, was in the apartment at the time of the shooting and was allegedly questioned by the police aggressively for seven hours.
"To the mayor of this city, to the police commissioner of this city: we are sick and tired of this shit," a lawyer for the landlord told NY1 in a press conference shortly before a rally to protest the incident. Several hundred people, including neighbors and family members, marched from Graham's home last night to the 47th Precinct to express their outrage.
"They think the badge they carry on their chest is a license to kill people," Delmar Scott, Graham's brother told ABC. A neighbor added, "I think they shoot first and ask questions later."
In a statement lamenting the recent spate of violence in the last week, Bronx BP Ruben Diaz Jr. said, “I’ve had enough, on all sides. I cannot and will not tolerate incidents of police misconduct. It is especially disturbing that a young man, who did not have a gun and was in his own home, could see his life end in such a sudden manner at the hands of those charged with his protection." Diaz adds, "A full investigation into this incident must occur, and immediately."
And Eric Stevenson, an Assemblyman from the Bronx, will attend a press conference today to address the issue of the brutal beating of Jateik Reed at the hands of the NYPD. " It only makes me wonder if this is an open season for eliminating minority youth," Stevenson says in a statement. "I will look into supporting legislation in creating an independent agency that oversees these police brutality cases. I am sick and tired of seeing this happening under my watch."
Graham is the third suspect this week killed at the hands of the NYPD.
Tagged
bronx
crime
drugs
excessive force
nypd
ramarley graham
Ray Kelly
senseless death
shooting deaths
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
News
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .