Family, with Sharpton and Jackson, visits Queens shooting site

NEW YORK -- Civil rights activists Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton stood with grief-struck relatives Wednesday on the bullet-pocked block where an unarmed bridegroom was killed in a hail of police fire while leaving his bachelor party.

"We come this morning with the family in their hour of grief," said Sharpton, standing near a makeshift altar of vibrant-colored flowers and burning candles near the Kalua Cabaret strip club in Jamaica, Queens. "We're all family now. Not a black family, not a white family, not a Latino family, a human family."

The community outrage was evident in signs taped up on a nearby brick wall of an auto body shop. "Death to Police Brutality and Murder," said one hand-printed sign. "Off the Pigs Who Shoot Our Kids," said another.

A flower wreath on an easel showed a photo of the 23-year-old groom, Sean Bell, his fiance and one of their young daughters, with the words: "Love Yourself, Stop the Violence." Across the street from the makeshift altar, an old shingled house sported a single bullet hole in a downstair window, and at least two cars parked along the sidewalk had bullet-shattered windows.

"God has the power to take evil and turn it into good," Jackson told the gathering. "Don't be silent."

"It's not about black and white," Jackson said. "It's about wrong and right."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has called the 50-shot police barrage, which also left two of Bell's friends hospitalized, "unacceptable," "inexplicable" and a case of "excessive force."

But experts who have studied deadly force say the confusing circumstances of the shooting make the mayor's conclusions this week premature. The amount of firepower, they add, has been given too much emphasis.

"The number of shots fired doesn't mean anything, even though it seems a little shocking," said Jim Cohen, a professor of criminal law at Fordham Law School. "We simply don't have enough information to draw any conclusions."

But at the shooting scene on Wednesday, Sharpton said, "We believe a crime was committed again Sean. We believe a crime was committed against the other two."

"One policeman second-loaded his gun. Ran out and reloaded," said Sharpton. "And let me make this clear, that these were semiautomatic weapons. ... They constantly had to pull back each time. ... There was no pause. ... They kept going."

The five shooters -- four detectives and one police officer -- have mostly remained silent amid a district attorney investigation, though lawyers and union officials have said at least some of them are eager to give their side of the story to a grand jury. All five were placed on paid administrative leave and had their guns removed.

Union officials say that the undercover detective who opened fire was convinced there was a gun in the men's car. They also allege that Bell defied orders to stop, and used the vehicle as a weapon.

"We're going to be forced to look at this through their eyes," said Eugene O'Donnell, a professor of police studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. "Short of hearing what they have to say, we don't know much."

Still absent are the accounts of two key witnesses: Two men who were partying at the club with Bell on the eve of his wedding. Joseph Guzman, 31, shot at least 11 times, and Trent Benefield, 23, hit three times, have remained hospitalized.

Police officials said Tuesday that detectives had located a new witness who apparently saw the officers open fire. They also were trying to identify more potential witnesses by studying video recorded by a club security camera.

The gunfire on Saturday morning stemmed from an undercover operation inside the club, where a team of officers in plain clothes was investigating alleged prostitution and drug use.

Police said that the groom was involved in an argument outside the club after 4 a.m., and that one of his friends made a reference to a gun.

The detective who was the first to open fire followed Bell and his friends as they headed for their car. As he walked toward the front of the vehicle, they drove forward -- bumping him and then crashing into an undercover police minivan, police said.

After the detective fired, the others joined in, police said. One 12-year veteran fired his weapon 31 times, pausing to reload his 16-shot semiautomatic pistol.

On Tuesday, Bloomberg and Sharpton met with the family at their church.

Union officials familiar with the officers' account say that the undercover detective was convinced there was a gun in the car. They also allege that Bell defied orders to stop, and used the vehicle as a weapon.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)