A New York City corrections officer accused of killing an 18-year-old Bronx man tells police he fired a single bullet after being hit in the back with what felt like glass shards or shrapnel, he said. arranged on friday.
The officer, Dion Middleton, who was on duty at the time, feared his life was in danger, his attorney said in court. Middleton police told police he turned around and saw a passenger in the silver car making hand gestures before the windows began to roll up and the vehicle began to turn near Morris Avenue.
At that point, Officer Middleton said, he opened fire.
“I felt threatened, I took my weapon, I shot,” he told police.
Officer Middleton, 45, left the scene without reporting the shooting. Only then, his lawyer said, did he learn that his bullet beat Raymond Chaluisant, 18 years old, killing him.
Mena Beshay, the state’s assistant attorney general, said in court on Friday, officers who responded to the 911 call found Mr Chaluisant in his vehicle but did not find a weapon. What was found, he said, was a toy gun that fired gel pellets made of water.
Officer Middleton, who was employed by the city’s Department of Corrections as a firearms instructor, admitted in his statement to police that he had not seen anyone wielding a weapon and that he had not heard of anyone holding a weapon. any gunshots, Mr. Beshay added.
Officer Middleton was charged with second-degree murder and first- and second-degree manslaughter, according to a criminal complaint filed by the New York state attorney general’s office. The agency is handling the case as it involves a law enforcement-related death.
Officer Middleton, who previously worked for the state Department of Corrections at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, was reassigned on Friday. He faces a life sentence in prison if found guilty of the top crime. He has been suspended from work without pay, the city’s Department of Corrections said on Thursday. He earned $221,684 last year including overtime, the department said.
At the heart of arguments at the settlement was whether the toy gun investigators found was qualified as a weapon.
Shortly after the announcement of Officer Middleton’s arrest, the Police Department’s public information unit posted a Twitter messages that said “particle blasters” – toy guns that shoot water gel pellets, similar to the one discovered near the shooting – are illegal in the city. A spokesperson for the Police Department said the message was not specifically prompted by Chaluisant’s murder but by other recent incidents in the city involving water particle weapons.
On Friday, the department launched a similar message on Twitter about bead blowers. The message was attached with pictures of some of the devices the department said it seized on Thursday. Officials said there were no photos of the device recovered during the investigation into Chaluisant’s murder.
On Friday, police also shared with The New York Times two videos of the particle blaster that were recently posted on social media. One shows a person firing a toy gun at law enforcement officers outside the Bronx Hall of Justice. The other shows a person shooting a toy gun at a police officer.
Joey Jackson, an attorney with Officer Middleton’s union, the Corrections Officers’ Benevolence Association, and who represents him, said his client acted on what he said. believe in self-defense.
Mr Jackson said: “By the time my client was discharged from the hospital, he did so in the belief that he was in immediate fear of death, of his life.
“Actually,” he added, “what the prosecutor didn’t indicate was yes, he was hit by one – let’s call it what it is. This is a weapon.”
Also at the arrangement were three corrections officers and Benny Boscio Jr., the union president.
“Our officer fired a single shot in a situation where he felt his life was in immediate danger, especially after feeling something in the back,” he said. Boscio said in a statement after the arrangement.
He added: “Toy guns no longer look like toys like the images of this water pistol, and they remain a constant threat to public safety. “We will provide Officer Middleton with the best possible representation to ensure that his legal rights are protected.”
Officer Middleton hung his head during the nearly half-hour-long settlement, which involved more than a dozen members of his family, including his mother. Some nodded approvingly as Mr. Jackson spoke.
Outside Mr Chaluisant’s building on Valentine Avenue, his friends, relatives and neighbors gathered among candles, flowers, balloons and posters that read “Justice for Raymond”.
His brother, Chris Chaluisant, 26, who lives in another state, traveled eight hours to New York after hearing of Chaluisant’s death. He said his brother was simply going out for a bite to eat when he was shot, and he wondered why Officer Middleton had left the area after the shooting.
Chris Chaluisant said: “I would forgive the shooter if he stayed there and showed remorse. He was wearing a T-shirt with a picture of his brother on it along with Raymond’s nickname, Bulldog.
Chris Chaluisant said: “Deep down, I was really, really down. “There’s really no way to explain it.”
“It could happen to anyone, it just happened to my brother,” he added. “It doesn’t have to be done.”
Téa Kvetenadze contributed reporting. Kitty Bennett contributed research.
