Another strange twist..One of the cops was a friend of Ridley's father..
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http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti ... GECAROUSEL
March 12, 2008
County police testify about role in shooting
Shawn Cohen and Jonathan Bandler
The Journal News
Four Westchester County policemen involved in the killing of an off-duty Mount Vernon police officer gave their accounts of the shooting
yesterday to a grand jury, with one saying it has tested his determination to remain in law enforcement.
Prosecutors wrapped up their case to the panel after the officers' testimony. It was unknown what, if any, charges they sought against the officers in the
Jan. 25 killing of 23-year-old Christopher Ridley. It appeared that the grand jury in White Plains voted on the matter because lawyers for the officers have
been told to expect an announcement this morning and the Ridley family has been invited to meet with District Attorney Janet DiFiore.
Her spokesman would not comment on the case yesterday.
One of the officers, Jose Calero, read a statement to jurors in which he said "we were faced with an armed man, pointing a gun at an unarmed man, and not
heeding repeated requests to drop the weapon. For reasons I will never understand, Officer Ridley did not identify himself. But what I do know is that my
response was guided by my training, my own sense of danger, and within the terms of engaging an armed subject who is not complying with a legal order."
Others involved were Detective
Robin Martin and Officers Frank Oliveri and Christian Gutierrez. Three of them returned to work
yesterday on "light duty," and the other will probably return soon, said Michael Hagan, the police union's president.
The Rev. William Mizell, associate pastor of Grace Baptist Church and a Ridley family friend, said he expects that the grand jury has voted not to indict any
of the officers. Community activists and Ridley's relatives have suggested the young officer was shot
because he was black. The Westchester chapter of the National Black Police Association has made several calls for better training of all officers and
hiring of more black officers in large departments throughout the county.
Gutierrez and Calero are Hispanic, Oliveri is white and Martin is black. Gutierrez attended the
same Westchester Police Academy as Ridley two years ago and was the slain officer's platoon leader there.
Hagan defended the officers, saying today that "anyone who looks at this objectively will see that they did what they were trained to do. For anyone who
says they would have handled it another way, I would like to hear what they would have done differently if they were confronted with a similar set of
circumstances."
Martin's lawyer, F. Hollis Griffin, would not divulge what his client told grand jurors. "It was a terrible accident," Griffin said of the
shooting. "There was concern that one of them might be shot. They reacted in a fashion that was to protect their fellow officers and themselves."
He said Martin, a former Mount Vernon police officer who was an acquaintance of Ridley's
father, has not yet returned to work and remained deeply affected by what happened. "It's hard to (compare) the stress he has experienced with
the death of a fellow officer. It pales in comparison. He hasn't been doing well."
At the time of the killing, Ridley was in civilian clothes trying to arrest homeless convict Anthony Jacobs. Witnesses and sources familiar with the
investigation said Ridley ran into the Westchester County office building in White Plains and asked for help after seeing Jacobs beat another man at Martine
Avenue and Court Street. Sources have said that Ridley did not identify himself as a police officer at that time and he went back outside before the officers
there, Gutierrez and Oliveri, could respond.
He then followed Jacobs, 39, to the front of 85 Court St., the county Social Services building. At that point, it is alleged, Jacobs grabbed Ridley's 9 mm
handgun, which fired twice and fell to the ground during the ensuing struggle. Ridley managed to throw Jacobs to the ground and retrieve the weapon when he was
shot and killed by the policemen who converged on the scene. Witnesses said the county officers yelled at Ridley to freeze and drop the gun, but he might not
have heard them.
The officers have not spoken publicly about the shooting, though The Journal News obtained a copy of Calero's statement to the grand jury.
Recalling the time just before the shooting, he said, he and Martin were discussing weekend plans and looking forward to leisure time with family, noting
"we never imagined we were moments away from living a nightmare."
"The tragic chain of events of January 25th have been soul wrenching for me, and have put to the test my resolve to continue in this line of work,"
he said. "I've had plenty of time to think about what happened, going over all kinds of scenarios of how the outcome could have been different, trying
to make sense of an absurd situation, but I come up empty. What I do know is that on that evening five cops, coming from five different backgrounds and
perspectives, attempted to do the right thing. We all respond as is our duty to a threat on someone's life."
He ended by saying, "I have grieved for this young man and will always carry this pain with me. I can only pray that no other police officer has to go
through this ever again."
*******
http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti ... GECAROUSEL
March 12, 2008
County police testify about role in shooting
Shawn Cohen and Jonathan Bandler
The Journal News
Four Westchester County policemen involved in the killing of an off-duty Mount Vernon police officer gave their accounts of the shooting
yesterday to a grand jury, with one saying it has tested his determination to remain in law enforcement.
Prosecutors wrapped up their case to the panel after the officers' testimony. It was unknown what, if any, charges they sought against the officers in the
Jan. 25 killing of 23-year-old Christopher Ridley. It appeared that the grand jury in White Plains voted on the matter because lawyers for the officers have
been told to expect an announcement this morning and the Ridley family has been invited to meet with District Attorney Janet DiFiore.
Her spokesman would not comment on the case yesterday.
One of the officers, Jose Calero, read a statement to jurors in which he said "we were faced with an armed man, pointing a gun at an unarmed man, and not
heeding repeated requests to drop the weapon. For reasons I will never understand, Officer Ridley did not identify himself. But what I do know is that my
response was guided by my training, my own sense of danger, and within the terms of engaging an armed subject who is not complying with a legal order."
Others involved were Detective
Robin Martin and Officers Frank Oliveri and Christian Gutierrez. Three of them returned to work
yesterday on "light duty," and the other will probably return soon, said Michael Hagan, the police union's president.
The Rev. William Mizell, associate pastor of Grace Baptist Church and a Ridley family friend, said he expects that the grand jury has voted not to indict any
of the officers. Community activists and Ridley's relatives have suggested the young officer was shot
because he was black. The Westchester chapter of the National Black Police Association has made several calls for better training of all officers and
hiring of more black officers in large departments throughout the county.
Gutierrez and Calero are Hispanic, Oliveri is white and Martin is black. Gutierrez attended the
same Westchester Police Academy as Ridley two years ago and was the slain officer's platoon leader there.
Hagan defended the officers, saying today that "anyone who looks at this objectively will see that they did what they were trained to do. For anyone who
says they would have handled it another way, I would like to hear what they would have done differently if they were confronted with a similar set of
circumstances."
Martin's lawyer, F. Hollis Griffin, would not divulge what his client told grand jurors. "It was a terrible accident," Griffin said of the
shooting. "There was concern that one of them might be shot. They reacted in a fashion that was to protect their fellow officers and themselves."
He said Martin, a former Mount Vernon police officer who was an acquaintance of Ridley's
father, has not yet returned to work and remained deeply affected by what happened. "It's hard to (compare) the stress he has experienced with
the death of a fellow officer. It pales in comparison. He hasn't been doing well."
At the time of the killing, Ridley was in civilian clothes trying to arrest homeless convict Anthony Jacobs. Witnesses and sources familiar with the
investigation said Ridley ran into the Westchester County office building in White Plains and asked for help after seeing Jacobs beat another man at Martine
Avenue and Court Street. Sources have said that Ridley did not identify himself as a police officer at that time and he went back outside before the officers
there, Gutierrez and Oliveri, could respond.
He then followed Jacobs, 39, to the front of 85 Court St., the county Social Services building. At that point, it is alleged, Jacobs grabbed Ridley's 9 mm
handgun, which fired twice and fell to the ground during the ensuing struggle. Ridley managed to throw Jacobs to the ground and retrieve the weapon when he was
shot and killed by the policemen who converged on the scene. Witnesses said the county officers yelled at Ridley to freeze and drop the gun, but he might not
have heard them.
The officers have not spoken publicly about the shooting, though The Journal News obtained a copy of Calero's statement to the grand jury.
Recalling the time just before the shooting, he said, he and Martin were discussing weekend plans and looking forward to leisure time with family, noting
"we never imagined we were moments away from living a nightmare."
"The tragic chain of events of January 25th have been soul wrenching for me, and have put to the test my resolve to continue in this line of work,"
he said. "I've had plenty of time to think about what happened, going over all kinds of scenarios of how the outcome could have been different, trying
to make sense of an absurd situation, but I come up empty. What I do know is that on that evening five cops, coming from five different backgrounds and
perspectives, attempted to do the right thing. We all respond as is our duty to a threat on someone's life."
He ended by saying, "I have grieved for this young man and will always carry this pain with me. I can only pray that no other police officer has to go
through this ever again."
Trump Pence Forever
