Amadou Diallo:

White NY Cops Shoot 41 Times And
Kill Unarmed Black Man

Jet 22feb1999

The recent killing of an unarmed African immigrant who was shot at 41 times by White police officers in New York has prompted a national outcry.

Amadou "Ahmed" Diallo, a 22-year-old immigrant from West Africa, was killed in the vestibule of the building where he shared a small apartment with two roommates.

Four officers fired 41 shots. Diallo, who worked as a street peddler, was hit by 19 of the bullets fired.

The officers were reportedly looking for a serial rapist and thought Diallo had a gun, but no gun was found, officials said.

The officers, Sean Carroll, 35, Edward McMellon, 26, Kenneth Boss, 27, and Richard Murphy, 26, were placed on desk duty pending investigation, according to news reports.

The shooting has outraged the Black community, and a grand jury convened by the Bronx district attorney's office was expected to begin reviewing evidence at press time.

The Rev. Al Sharpton led a rally outside the building where the victim lived in the Bronx, NY.

Said Sharpton, "This was not a police murder, it was a police slaughter. If a man was put in front of a firing squad, he would not expect to be shot at 41 times."

NAACP President Kweisi Mfume has called for an investigation by U.S. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno and called the shooting "excessive force at its worst."

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