In the late hours of a spring evening in Manhattan, the life of a young, off-duty police officer named Omar Edwards was tragically cut short in a hail of friendly fire. Edwards, a 25-year-old Black man, had just finished his shift on May 28, 2009, when he encountered a man breaking into his car in East Harlem. With his service weapon drawn, he gave chase, a decision that would set in motion a fatal chain of events.
As Edwards pursued the suspect, a team of plainclothes officers from the
25th Precinct in an unmarked car happened upon the scene. Seeing a man in street clothes running with a gun, they mistook Edwards for a perpetrator. One of the officers, Andrew Dunton, a white officer, exited the vehicle and shouted, 'Police, don't move, drop the gun, drop the gun.' In the chaotic moments that followed, Edwards reportedly turned towards the officers with his gun still in hand. Officer Dunton fired six shots in rapid succession, striking Edwards. He was rushed to Harlem Hospital where he succumbed to his wounds less than an hour later. It was only after the shooting, when a detective discovered Edwards's police academy t-shirt and his shield in his pocket, that the devastating mistake was realized.
The man Edwards had been chasing, Miguel Goitia, was apprehended by other officers at the scene. Goitia later confessed to breaking into Edwards' car. He was charged with felony criminal mischief and two misdemeanors. In September 2009, Goitia pleaded guilty and was subsequently sentenced to one-and-a-third years in prison for his role in the events that inadvertently led to the tragic shooting.
The shooting immediately sparked a public debate, with some raising concerns about racial bias in policing. A Manhattan grand jury was convened to investigate the shooting. After hearing testimony from 20 witnesses and reviewing 68 pieces of evidence, the grand jury voted not to indict Officer Andrew Dunton on any criminal charges. The District Attorney's office stated that evidence indicated Edwards had pointed his gun at Dunton, a key factor in the grand jury's decision. Following the grand jury's decision, Dunton, who had been on administrative duty, still faced an internal NYPD disciplinary review. Omar Edwards, who had served with the NYPD for two years, was posthumously promoted to the rank of Detective.
