An off-duty rookie cop chasing a suspected car thief in East Harlem with his gun drawn was shot and killed last night when an officer mistook him for a criminal, reports the New York Daily News. “Police! Stop! Drop it!” cops shouted at Omar Edwards, 25. As he started to turn toward him – the gun still in his hand – an officer opened fire.
The officer involved in the shooting is white, Edwards is black and had no visible police identification on him. It was unclear if Edwards identified himself. “This is always a black cop’s fear, that he’d be mistaken for a [suspect],” a source said. Said the officer’s father: “If a police officer sees someone with a gun, you don’t just fire without asking questions or trying to apprehend the person,” “It’s a horror for everyone involved. No one comes out unscathed,” a police source said.