Death at Close Range
Cop's Fate May Hinge On Distance From Victim
By Leonard Levitt, Daryl Khan and Rocco Parascandola
STAFF WRITERS
As Brooklyn prosecutors get ready to present evidence to a grand
jury, the fate of a police officer who shot dead an unarmed teenager could hinge
on how close the victim was to the officer at the time, sources familiar with
the probe said yesterday.
The issue is likely to be a focal point when prosecutors present the politically
and racially charged case to the grand jury, possibly as soon as today.
Richard Neri, a 12-year veteran of the Housing Bureau with a clean disciplinary
record and no previous shootings, fatally shot Timothy Stansbury Jr., 19, in a
seconds-long encounter early Saturday. Neri and his partner, Officer Jason Hallik,
were assigned to Police Service Area No. 3, which, according to one police source,
had come under scrutiny recently because of several instances in which officers
there had fired their guns.
In October, when a pit bull was fatally shot atop the same building where Stansbury
was killed, housing police supervisors were "read the riot act," according
to one police source.
Early Saturday, Neri and Hallik were conducting ground-to-roof patrols at the
Louis Armstrong Houses, a development in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
At the same time, Stansbury, Terrence Fisher and Shawn Rhames were heading
up the stairs of 385 Lexington Ave. Stansbury and his friends were heading to
the roof and planned to walk across to an adjacent building to attend a birthday
party.
Stansbury and Hallik are believed to have reached the door at about the same
time.
Neri, who had his gun out and whose role was to look inside to check for criminal
activity, may have been startled by Stansbury, sources said. He fired once, striking
Stansbury in the chest.
Internal Affairs investigators have located a man who was among many who gathered
outside the building after the shooting. The man has told investigators that Stansbury
was shot as he was pushing the door open, presumably as Hallik opened it, sources
said. The man's credibility is unclear, sources say, in part because he is not
an eyewitness. It was not clear if what he heard came from Fisher and Rhames or
from others.
Fisher and Rhames did not talk to police investigators but have told Brooklyn
District Attorney Charles Hynes' office that Stansbury was not in the doorway
but 3 to 4 feet back. The difference, however small, could prove critical for
Neri, sources familiar with the case and with police tactics say.
"If a guy's real close to you, he can get your gun," one source said.
A second source said that, in any police shooting, a key element is determining
how much time the officer had to size up what was happening.
"When a person is so abruptly on you, you don't have time to think,"
the source said. "It's like a reflective action - you squeeze the trigger
in anticipation of being shot. If he's a little further back, it presents a problem
for the officer. What did he do to assess the situation?"
In other developments, Pat Lynch, president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association,
met with Hynes because of Police Commissioner Ray Kelly's assessment that the
shooting appeared unjustified.
"Only the officer knows if it was an accident or he perceived a danger,"
Lynch said before the meeting.
Neri's lawyer, Stu London, said Neri is "feeling a lot better" since
Lynch spoke out on his behalf. Neri, London said, may testify before the grand
jury.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg yesterday defended the decision to announce that the
shooting appeared unjustified, saying he and Kelly met and decided it was the
best thing to do.
"This is a tragedy. A 19-year-old boy is dead today, and our prayers are
with him and with his family," he said.
The wake and funeral for Stansbury, a McDonald's employee who received his
general equivalency diploma, will be held Friday.
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