NYPD Kicks Door Before Shooting Unarmed Teen

Surveillance video outside the Bronx home of Ramarley Graham shows police struggling to enter the residence and kicking in a door moments before an NYPD officer shot and killed the unarmed 18-year-old in his bathroom. While surveillance footage from a neighboring home showed Graham running down the street with police pursuing, this footage obtained by WPIX 11 shows Graham casually entering his house. Seconds later two NYPD officers with their guns drawn attempt to break down the door.

Commissioner Ray Kelly told reporters on Friday that the officer who shot Graham, 30-year-old Richard Haste, shouted "Show me your hands!" and "Gun! Gun!" at the teenager before shooting him in the chest in his bathroom. But the only other person in the apartment at the time, Graham's 58-year-old grandmother Patricia Hartley, told the Times through friend of the family Carlton Berkley that she heard no such thing. Additionally, residents of the apartment dispute the NYPD's assertion that the officers announced themselves when forcibly entering their home.

Also at issue is the manner in which Hartley was treated: Berkley says she was held at the 47th Precinct for seven hours so that she could give police a statement. "She gave it against her will," Berkley, a retired police detective says. "She didn't want to speak to police." Paul Browne, the NYPD's spokesperson, said that Hartley was "naturally upset but cooperative," and said she actually spent five and a half hours speaking with police.

Commissioner Kelly told reporters on Friday that Hartley "certainly should have been shown a sensitivity on that issue. I would hope that she was. If not…we'll certainly investigate." Officer Haste, a three-year veteran, and another Sergeant who was in the stairwell, have both been placed on desk duty.

Despite twice reporting over radio communications that Graham had a gun, police searched Graham's apartment and other residences in the home and found no firearms. Graham was killed in his bathroom, allegedly dumping a small amount of marijuana into the toilet. Police accounts that Graham had struggled proved to be false. Commissioner Kelly told reporters that the case may be handed over to a grand jury to determine whether a crime was committed.

"Why would you break in a house and shoot a young man and kill him?" Rev. Al Sharpton said yesterday. "You cannot get to a conclusion without starting with the premise. The premise is wrong. They had no business breaking in the house."

Original report here




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