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Cops Fired 84 Times At Man Who Killed 13-Yr-Old Sister, Wounded Mom
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 25, 2012
Modified Apr 25, 2012
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By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 25, 2012
Modified Apr 25, 2012
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Yesterday, police officers wounded a man suspected of fatally shooting his 13-year-old sister and wounding his mother, after he allegedly fired a round at them. Now it turns out the two police officers fired 84 times at suspect Steven Murray—the Post reports, "the punk incredibly survived."
Murray, 28, had moved from North Carolina to live with his mother, Christine Fryar, 44, and sister (also described as his half-sister) Annie Fryar in a one-bedroom apartment at the Polo Grounds Houses in Harlem. According to the Post, there was tension between Murray and Fryar on Monday: "He and his mom were butting heads because he wasn’t working or contributing to the upkeep of the cramped home, and she wanted him to move out, said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne." Annie usually played peacemaker, and a frien told the Post that while Annie was playing outside, she "had to go upstairs because her brother was getting drunk, and her mom and her brother were arguing" again.
The Daily News reports:
Apparently, things calmed down. But at 2 a.m., while Annie dozed face-down on the pullout sofa in the living room, mother and son began arguing again.
She fled into her bedroom and Murray allegedly pulled out a .22 caliber pistol and plugged Annie with two shots — one in her right temple, one near her right eye.
Fryar rushed into the living room.
“You shot my daughter,” she cried out, according to her upstairs neighbor.
Murray wasn’t done, cops say. He fired at her and she ran back into the bedroom. When she opened the door again, he was reloading and she ran back inside.
She had been hit in both hands and the forehead but was miraculously not killed. The bullet traveled under the skin of her head and lodged near her ear.
Fryar managed to give police a description of her son, and he was located by two cops canvassing the neighborhood for Murray near the Harlem River Drive by West 155th Street. Witnesses say they heard cops yell to Murray to put down his .22-caliber gun, but Murray allegedly fired once at them. So a sergeant and officer fired a combined 84 rounds at him. Per the News, "The suspect was hit numerous times — he had 14 entrance and exit wounds — but refused to drop his gun."
When police showed Murray's photo to his mother at Harlem Hospital, she reportedly yelled, "That’s my son! That’s the animal who shot me and killed my daughter!" A motive for the shooting has not been determined, but one building resident says Murray may have blamed Annie for telling Fryar he brought a girl to the apartment. The Post says that Murray's long arrest record "includes assaulting cops in The Bronx and North Carolina, along with robbery, weapons possession and possession of stolen property."
A neighbor told WCBS 2, "I’m scared. I hope the killing will stop. They’re killing their own sisters and brothers. We’re all family. We need each other."
Tagged
annie fryar
christine fryar
gun violence
harlem
police involved shooting
shooting
steven murray
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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