Brooklyn riot over teen's death : 16 - year - old shot by cops did not have a gun , says witness
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brooklyn riot teen's death 16 year old shot cop gun say witness
Brooklyn riot over teen's death : 16 - year - old shot by cops did not have a <m> gun </m> , says witness
http : / / www . nydailynews . com / new - york / witness - claims - 16 - year - old - killed - cops - hands - article - 1 . 1286981
Brooklyn riot over teen's death : 16 - year - old shot by cops did not have a <m> gun </m> , says witness
Tishana King says she saw the whole incident from a bird's eye view in her Brooklyn apartment .
She says she's 'certain' slain Kimani ( Kiki ) Gray 'didn't having anything in his hands . '
PUBLISHED : WEDNESDAY , MARCH 13 , 2013 , 12 : 38 AM
UPDATED : WEDNESDAY , MARCH 13 , 2013 , 2 : 30 AM
A Brooklyn woman who claims she had a “ bird ’ s - eye view ” of the fatal police shooting of 16 - year - old Kimani ( Kiki ) Gray says the youth did not have a gun in his hand .
Tishana King is the only civilian eyewitness to come forward , and her account sharply differs from Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly ’ s assertion that Gray had pointed a . 38 - caliber revolver at the cops before they opened fire .
“ I ’ m certain he didn ’ t have anything in his hands , ” King told the Daily News .
Moments after the Saturday shooting , one cop put both hands on his head and said , “ ‘ Oh , God ! ’ ” King recalled .
“ His partner went over to him and put his hand on his shoulder and said , ‘ Are you okay , buddy ? ’ ”
King , 39 , a medical records clerk at Kings County Hospital , said she gave a tape - recorded interview to detectives several hours after the shooting .
The detectives were aware her 14 - year - old son dialed 911 from their apartment after the gunfire .
But King , in her nearly eight - minute interview with NYPD investigators at 3 a . m . on Sunday , never said a word about whether Gray was carrying a gun .
King emphatically told The News that Gray didn ’ t have a weapon in his hands .
But the newspaper ’ s review of her nearly eight - minute interview with NYPD investigators hours after the shooting shows she never mentioned whether the teen was carrying a gun .
“ I couldn ’ t see what the kids were doing , ” she said during the session .
The News reviewed the tape of the Q&A conducted in her apartment after the fatal shooting .
Detectives and Internal Affairs Bureau investigators never asked directly if King saw Gray with a gun , and a police source said NYPD policy precludes asking such leading questions .
“ They ’ re just asked to say what happened in as much detail as they can remember , ” the source said .
A police spokesman said that when King was asked what she saw by detectives , she told them she couldn't see what the boys were doing "from the angle I was at . "
But King told The News that , at first , the boys were under her window and that they moved into view when police got out of their car and approached them .
The NYPD has not released the names of the sergeant and cop who fired 11 shots .
A police source said the pair initially reported to supervisors that the teen had pulled a gun — and a loaded weapon was recovered at the scene .
King told The News she was drawn to her third - floor East Flatbush window late Saturday night by the sound of loud laughing and talking outside on E . 52nd St .
She said she watched as a burgundy - colored sedan pulled up and a man jumped out of the passenger side , followed by the driver .
King initially thought the duo intended to fight with the youths .
When the driver yelled , “ Don ’ t move ! ” it clicked that they were cops , she said .
“ Kimani started backing up , ” King said .
“ The cop took out his gun and started firing at Kimani . ”
King said the area was illuminated by a streetlight and Gray appeared to be cornered by the cops .
“ His ( Gray ’ s ) hands were down , ” she said .
“ I couldn ’ t believe he let off ( fired ) his gun .
There was no reason .
No false move . ”
A police source said King never told detectives that Gray was backing up with his hands down .
Kelly said an “ earwitness ” heard a cop yell , “ What do you have in your hands ? ” but a source said the man was too far away to see the confrontation .
The shooting appeared to be within NYPD guidelines , he added .