Two More Pleasantville (NY) Officers Sued in Danroy Henry Case: Police Handcuffed Black College Student after they Shot Him - Given No Immediate Medical Attention

From [HERE] Two more New York police officers are being sued by the parents of a college football player who was killed in his car by another officer.

The new federal lawsuit claims the officers failed to get immediate help for Danroy Henry Jr. of Easton, Mass., after he was shot in 2010. After being shot by police, the officers removed him from the car and handcuffed him. Witnesses say police left him like that in the street for 15 minutes without medical attention. [MORE] 

Henry, a Pace University student, was driving away from a disturbance outside a bar. The officer who shot him said Henry was driving toward him and wouldn't stop.

Several witnesses, including passengers of Henry’s car, said that Henry drove away because another officer had ordered him to move his car from the fire lane. Before he could slow down, Hess jumped in front of the vehicle, jumped onto the hood, and started firing. The passenger in the car, Brandon Cox, told authorities that Henry slowed down before he was shot by police. [MORE] According to witness testimony, Henry was handcuffed and placed on the sidewalk, where he lay dying. He was left on the street for 15 minutes without any medical attention. [MORE]

On Thursday, the family lawyer said Pleasantville Officer Kevin Gilmartin and Mount Pleasant Officer Ronald Gagnon were also being sued for intentionally or recklessly failing to help Henry.

Police have contradicted themselves in explaining what happened to Henry.

Originally, authorities had said Mount Pleasant police officer Ronald Beckley fired at Henry's car after it hit Pleasantville officer Aaron Hess and headed toward Beckley.

But in Beckley's deposition, taken Tuesday and released by Sussman, he said he heard gunshots at the Thornwood Shopping Center that night and fired at Hess, not at Henry's car. Beckley said he did not realize Hess was a police officer because the area was dimly lit.

Henry, who had been in the bar earlier, was sitting behind the wheel of his Nissan in a parking lot fire lane when Hess knocked on the driver's-side window, prosecutors have said. Police said Henry sped off; his family contends that he drove away at reasonable speed, believing the officer was telling him to move. Officer Hess has alleged that he was struck by the car and thrown on to the hood, suffering a broken knee cap in the process.

Beckley said in his deposition that he was about 30 feet away from Hess. He heard the first shot, saw Hess mount the car and saw the gun in Hess' hand. He then heard three or four shots and fired at Hess, and believed he had struck Hess' knee, he testified. The car then careened past Beckley and came to a stop.

"The vehicle came to a rest. The person on the hood rolled off and came to rest at a curb ... he was in a foetal position, holding his knee," Beckley testified, according to the deposition. "And Officer Hess said his knee was shot." Sussman said Mount Pleasant officials' statements after the shooting presented a "radically different story" than the events of that night.

"Nothing was said to the effect that Hess was the aggressor and that Beckley, the second officer, shot at Hess," Sussman said Saturday. [MORE]