NYPD Investigates Deadly Police Shooting Of Brooklyn Teen
November 13, 2007
The NYPD has launched an investigation into the deadly police shooting of a Brooklyn teenager, who officers say charged at them with what they believed was a gun last night in Bedford Stuyvesant.
Police say officers fired 20 shots at Coppin after he climbed out of his first floor apartment window. Officers say they believed the teen had a gun, but it turned out to be a hairbrush. Coppin was pronounced dead at Woodhull Hospital.
“The police was shouting, ‘Get him down, get down.’ The whole time the boy was never talking, so he never said he had a gun,” said witness Andres Sanchez. “He just jumped down came out the gate and then he was looking around at the police, and then he dropped the brush and put his hands in the air and they just started shooting at him. And once he got on the floor they threw him in handcuffs.”
The shooting happened around 7 p.m. Monday after Coppin's mother called 911 about a dispute she was having with her son. The police say during the call Coppin could be heard saying several times that he had a gun. They also say that when the 911 operator asked his mother if there was a gun involved she said, "you heard it from his mouth."
When officers responded they say Coppin began arguing with them and then climbed out the window and began walking toward them with what they believed was a gun. Police say they ordered him to stop. When he refused, they opened fire.
Some people in this Bedford Stuyvesant community, including the local councilman, are questioning the judgment of the police officers.
“When you get on the scene, if you didn't see a gun and if you didn't bring anybody to talk down the conflict and the resolution and resolve it, you're at fault,” said City Councilman Charles Barron. “When you get on that scene, it's not what the mother said on the phone, it's how you behave when you got on that scene.”
“It seems to be happening over and over again and somebody needs to do something about it,” said one neighbor.
“They always think they have good reason,” added another. “They always think they have good reason, then the mayor backs them up, the governor backs them up. There is no good reason to open fire on a teenager the way they did.”
The reverend Al Sharpton's National Action Network says it will launch its own investigation into the shooting.
brooklyn,ny:nypd shoots 18yr old dead(20 times)
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