The dismissal of an undercover detective who fired the first of the 50 police bullets when Sean Bell was killed in New York City more than five years ago may close the final chapter of that drawn-out story, says the New York Times. On the streets near the site of Bell's shooting, residents expressed anger, and resentments that remain unresolved. Some said it had taken far too long to punish Det. Gescard Isnora. Others wondered why the dismissal came as the killing of a black Florida teen stirred memories of the Bell case.
Many officers said the termination would hurt morale, though some said that police commissioner Raymond Kelly had no choice but to cut ties to a detective whose name had been tainted. Kelly accepted the recommendation of a judge who presides over police disciplinary cases that Isnora be terminated and he forced the retirements of three other officers involved in the shooting of Bell, 23, outside a club on his wedding day, Nov. 25, 2006.