There are more questions than answers today as the police investigate an encounter three men had with the police in Queens early Saturday morning. The police ended up shooting at the men's car, killing a man on the day of his wedding and wounding his two friends. The men were not armed.
The three men, Sean Bell, Joseph Guzman, and Trent Benefield, had just left the Kalua Lounge, a strip club, for Bell's bachelor party. According to police sources, some undercover police officers were at the club to make prostitution arrests. The
Daily News reports that one of the officers overheard "a bouncer suggest to a dancer that he had a gun, and the cops went outside to warn plainclothes officers in a nearby van."
An hour later, a fight erupted outside the club. Bell, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield were allegedly among eight men yelling at another man, Kelly said.
One of the undercover cops heard Bell shout, "Let's f--- him up," and Guzman say, "Yo - go get my gun," Kelly said.
"It's getting hot on Liverpool, for real. I think there's a gun," an undercover warned his lieutenant, Kelly said.
Then, Bell, Guzman and Benefield left. Here is the
NY Times' account:
Witnesses told of chaos, screams and a barrage of gunfire near Club Kalua at 143-08 94th Avenue in Jamaica about 4:15 a.m. after Mr. Bell and his friends walked out and got into their car. Mr. Bell drove the car half a block, turned a corner and struck a black unmarked police minivan bearing several plainclothes officers.
Mr. Bellâ??s car then backed up onto a sidewalk, hit a storefrontâ??s rolled-down protective gate and nearly struck an undercover officer before shooting forward and slamming into the police van again, the police said.
In response, five police officers fired at least 50 rounds at the menâ??s car, a silver Nissan Altima; the bullets ripped into other cars and slammed through an apartment window near the shooting scene on Liverpool Street near 94th Avenue.
Bell was shot in the neck and arm and died from his wounds. Guzman had 11 gunshot wounds and is critical condition while Benefield was shot 3 times and is in stable condition.
Kelly said the undercover officer who fired the first round identified himself as a police officer. However, Benefield says the cops did not identify themselves. Additionally, the police officers had anywhere from 5 to 17 years experience, according to Kelly. The police officer who fired 31 times had 12 years of experience.
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