Road Rage Officer May Claim Self-Defense
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Prosecutors are saying that an off-duty police officer who confessed to shooting a man in a road rage incident over the weekend may have a claim of self-defense. Because of that claim, a grand jury will now decide whether charges will be brought against the officer, the Manhattan district attorney, Robert Morgenthau, said yesterday. Police have reported that the victim aimed his fingers in the shape of a gun at Sean Sawyer, 34, an undercover narcotics officer in Queens.
“Where there’s a claim of self-defense, which there is in this case, there’s usually no immediate arrest. But this case is under active investigation,” Mr. Morgenthau said.
Sources familiar with the probe said investigators weren’t surprised to learn the shooter was a police officer.
In the 19 hours they were searching for a suspect after the shooting early Sunday morning, sources said police had reason to believe that the shooting suspect may have been on the police force.
They said one clue was that the shooter had waited to fire his gun until he thought the victim was reaching for a weapon — a decision that appeared to fall into line with police training on legal use of force.
The dispute between Mr. Sawyer and the victim, Jayson Tirado, 25, carried on for several blocks as they jostled out of a traffic jam on the FDR Drive and chased one another up First Avenue.
Sources said a witness, who was riding in the back seat of the car with Tirado, told police in a videotaped interview after the shooting that Tirado had pretended to reach for a weapon and brought his fingers up in the shape of a gun. The witness reportedly told police that Tirado said to Mr. Sawyer: “I have new Ruger for you,” referring to a type of gun.
It was at that point Mr. Sawyer allegedly fired his off-duty weapon, a mini-Glock.
No guns were found in Tirado’s car, police have said. Mr. Sawyer turned himself in early Monday morning.
He has been suspended without pay and was released after being questioned by investigators in Harlem.
Meanwhile, the Reverend Al Sharpton today is holding a new conference to announce his support of Tirado’s family.
Rev. Sharpton has also gotten involved in two other high-profile cases in the past 12 months in which police officers have shot and killed unarmed drivers.
