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New York City Police Sergeant Arrested in Bronx Woman’s Shooting Death New York City Police Sergeant Charged With Murder in Bronx Woman’s Death
(about 3 hours later)
A New York City police supervisor who fatally shot a mentally ill woman inside her Bronx apartment in October was arrested on Wednesday, law enforcement officials said. A New York City police supervisor who fatally shot a mentally ill woman inside her Bronx apartment in October was charged on Wednesday with murder in connection with the woman’s death, law enforcement officials said.
The arrest of the supervisor, Sgt. Hugh Barry, follows months of investigation into the deadly encounter with the 66-year-old victim, Deborah Danner. The arrest of the supervisor, Sgt. Hugh Barry, follows months of investigation into the deadly encounter with the 66-year-old woman, Deborah Danner.
According to one official, the sergeant was charged with second-degree murder, first- and second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. J. Peter Donald, a Police Department spokesman, said the sergeant was charged with second-degree murder, first- and second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
“He has been suspended,” without pay, said that official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a developing situation. He appeared in court in the Bronx on Wednesday afternoon.
Ms. Danner was killed on Oct. 18 after Sergeant Barry and other officers responded to 911 calls of a woman acting erratically. “He has been suspended,” without pay, Mr. Donald said.
Police officers rarely face criminal charges in connection with on-duty deaths, and murder charges are rarer still.
Ms. Danner was killed on Oct. 18 after Sergeant Barry and other officers responded to 911 calls of a woman acting erratically at an apartment building in the Castle Hill neighborhood.
Within hours of the death, the sergeant was stripped of his badge and gun and placed on modified duty — despite the police, in their initial account, saying that Ms. Danner had swung a bat at the sergeant.Within hours of the death, the sergeant was stripped of his badge and gun and placed on modified duty — despite the police, in their initial account, saying that Ms. Danner had swung a bat at the sergeant.
Mayor Bill de Blasio and the police commissioner, James P. O’Neill, said Sergeant Barry had failed to follow police protocol for dealing with people with mental illness. Specifically, he did not use his stun gun to try to subdue Ms. Danner, and he did not wait for a specialized police unit to arrive. Mayor Bill de Blasio and the police commissioner, James P. O’Neill, said Sergeant Barry had failed to follow police protocol for dealing with people with mental illness. Specifically, he did not use his stun gun to try to subdue Ms. Danner, and he did not wait for a specialized Emergency Service Unit to arrive.
After the death, the Bronx district attorney, Darcel D. Clark, asked the state to impanel a special grand jury to hear evidence in the case — a sign of the legal and political stakes of the death. But the state attorney general, who has the power to investigate police shootings of people who were unarmed, declined to pursue a formal inquiry, suggesting the preliminary evidence had confirmed that Ms. Danner was armed when she was killed. After the death, the Bronx district attorney, Darcel D. Clark, asked the state to impanel a special grand jury to hear evidence in the case. But the state attorney general, who has the power to investigate police shootings of people who were unarmed, declined to pursue a formal inquiry, suggesting the preliminary evidence had confirmed that Ms. Danner was armed when she was killed.
Ms. Clark, though, took over the investigation and sought a grand jury, she said, to keep her pledge to conduct a fair and thorough inquiry. Ms. Clark, a former judge and the wife of a veteran city police detective, took over the investigation and sought a grand jury. The charges against Sergeant Barry represent the highest-profile prosecution the office has undertaken since Ms. Clark took office last year.
A spokeswoman for Ms. Clark said Sergeant Barry had been indicted and would appear in court in the Bronx at 3 p.m. on Wednesday. Edward D. Mullins, the president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, has blasted the grand jury’s decision, saying, “the union is outraged at the indictment.”
Edward D. Mullins, the president of the Sergeant’s Benevolent Association, was not immediately available for comment. Mr. Mullins, in a statement, said Commissioner O’Neill’s criticisms, “before any investigation was even commenced,” was something that “undoubtedly tainted the grand jury pool and denied any semblance of due process” for the sergeant.
But in an emailed statement, he blasted the grand jury’s decision, saying, “the union is outraged at the indictment.” Over the last few years, a string of killings of unarmed people by the police has increased pressure on prosecutors to pursue criminal cases against police officers. Charges have been filed in several high-profile cases, including the deaths of men in Baltimore, North Charleston, S.C. and Tulsa, Okla., but such prosecutions are notably difficult.
Mr. Mullins said Commissioner O’Neill’s criticisms, “before any investigation was even commenced,” was something that “undoubtedly tainted the grand jury pool and denied any semblance of due process,” for the sergeant. In Baltimore, prosecutors dropped charges against three of the officers involved after failing to win convictions against the first three charged. In Tulsa, a jury acquitted the officer, and in North Charleston, the state trial of an officer on murder and manslaughter charges ended in a mistrial, though the officer eventually pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights charge.
“This is an absolute disgrace,” said Mr. Mullins, in his statement. In Brooklyn, a rookie police officer, Peter Liang, was charged in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man, Akai Gurley, in the stairwell of a public housing complex in Brooklyn. Mr. Liang was convicted last year of manslaughter but was sentenced to a term of probation, a decision that outraged Mr. Gurley’s family.
The encounter between Ms. Danner and the police was brief — 15 to 20 minutes — and in close quarters inside her seventh floor apartment, the police said in their initial accounts. It began with a 911 call at 6:05 p.m. from a neighbor who said Ms. Danner was acting erratically. It was not the first time the police had been called to her home.
The encounter ended with Sergeant Barry firing twice, fatally wounding her, in her bedroom.
What happened in between is what will undoubtedly be dissected in a potential trial.
Initially, the police said that Sergeant Barry persuaded Ms. Danner to drop a pair of scissors, but that she picked up a bat and tried to swing at him. Several other officers were at the scene, in the building at 630 Pugsley Avenue, but only Sergeant Barry was in the bedroom with Ms. Danner.