There was a terrible crime in my neighborhood early yesterday evening. A retired cop was shot dead on the street. This comes at a time of rising gun violence in NY. The killer was on the scene when police arrived but was not arrested. Why not? (This is like one of those riddles!)
I read every article I could find and have tried to piece together what happened. But like the police, the local news seems remarkably uncurious about the killer. In fact, I'm only assuming he was not arrested because none of the news articles even mention it either way.
The first article I saw was in the Daily News. This preview shows an old headline - "killed with his own gun" - the updated headline says "killed by a friend's gun". Either way, the Daily News is sure about one thing: the killer was a gun. nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-c…
Here's the Daily News lede. Seems pretty clear cut. A young drunk/addict/troublemaker is hassling an old man. Two friends - a retired cop & an off duty corrections officer - intervene. A fight breaks out. The corrections officer accidentally shoots his friend. But hang on... 
CBS News says there was a "struggle" over the gun, describes the drunk as the "suspect" and quotes a witness calling the drunk the shooter. But it also says no charges were filed. newyork.cbslocal.com/2021/06/08/ret…
Moving on CBS simply seems to be muddled. NBC also IDs the shooter as the former corrections officer and while it says there was a struggle over the gun it's unclear about whether the corrections officer fired during that struggle or after nbcnewyork.com/news/local/ret…
Also I was slightly mistaken: NBC News does raise the question of an arrest, saying "It was unclear if any charges had been filed, or are expected to be."
Finally here's the NY Post which unequivocally says the ex cop "was accidentally shot and killed by his friend" but also refers to the drunk as "the alleged suspect in the shooting." nypost.com/2021/06/07/ret…
There is no indication that NBC or the Post are confused about who fired the gun. Only that the "suspect" has to be the young nonwhite drunk. That's the only proper use of that term.
I'm going to try to lay out what happened based on my reading of these various reports and why the aftermath is so odd. Before I do I want to say again that I'm horrified that this happened a few blocks from my home and genuinely heartbroken for the victim and his family.
Note that these are early reports and in fact the articles are being updated as I write. I'm certainly not blaming deadline reporters for any errors of fact or conflicting stories in their early reports. That's the nature of the beast.
1) a 33yo drunk is hassling at an old man (one report specifies verbally, none suggest physical violence). Two friends in their 50s, a corrections officer and an ex-cop, intervene. (Maybe the old man is the CO's father. Maybe the CO calls his friend to the scene for help)
2) At some point the drunk threatens to come back with a gun. Unclear if he's talking to the old man or the 2 friends. The ex-cop identifies himself. The drunk leaves, either on foot or in a car. The 2 friends follow him. Somehow a struggle starts (who started it or why: unknown)
3) CO pulls his gun. Maybe the drunk tries to grab it and it goes off. Maybe the CO tries to shoot the drunk and accidentally kills his friend. Bottom line: cops, local news & most people on here file the whole thing away as a tragic accident. Here's why that's fucked up...
Take the identity of the 2 friends out of the pic and what do you have: unarmed drunk yelling at old man. Two men from the neighborhood confront him. At least one is armed. They chase him off, follow him half a block and eventually one shoots at him but kills his friend instead
As of now there's no suggestion that the CO pulls his gun in self defense or that anyone's life is in danger until he does. If the shooter had not been a corrections officer he would have been arrested on the spot.
Obviously what happened IS a tragic accident. That does not also mean it can't be a crime. Maybe a good defense attorney could get him off. But if cops wanted to make an arrest & DA wanted to charge, they could sure as shit find something.
If you have a gun and you use it to threaten a neighborhood troublemaker and then accidentally kill your friend, you do not get to walk away. Unless you're a cop. A man was killed a few blocks from my house and the police. don't. care. because the shooter was one of their own
This does seem like the most likely outcome
https://twitter.com/adelphean70/status/1402268237199446018?s=20
Updates: The corrections officer who shot his friend was also retired. It was his father being harassed. He called his buddy to help him scare off the drunk. The police report suggests he was attempting to display his gun in a threatening manner and it accidentally went off.
Again: if anyone other than an (ex)cop did this he'd be arrested on the spot. If this drunk was causing trouble the retired cop should have called active duty cops so THEY could kill the unarmed man. Then at least someone would be put on desk duty for a week as punishment.
Update: The police report says the drunk punched the ex-cop then "tried to grab" the gun when the ex-cop drew on him. These details weren't in the initial accounts & wouldn't make much difference if they were true, which they're not, but that's how they're justifying the charges
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