NEW YORK – A teenager killed in a confrontation with New York City police over the weekend was shot 11 times, the medical examiner's office said Sunday.
Dashawn Vasconcellos, 18, died of gunshot wounds to the torso, neck and extremities, medical examiner spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said. Police fired a total of 14 times, chief NYPD spokesman Paul J. Browne said.
According to an autopsy completed late Sunday, Vasconcellos had three gunshot wounds in the middle of his back, five in his right side and three on his left side, Borakove said. Five police bullets were recovered during the autopsy, she said.
Vasconcellos and two others were spotted leaving a city park in Queens at about 11:30 p.m. Saturday by four officers in an unmarked car. Vasconcellos ran and was pursued by three officers. He then turned and pointed a 9mm semiautomatic pistol at them, Browne said.
"They ordered him to drop the gun, and he did not comply. Three officers fired a total of 14 shots," Browne said.
Vasconcellos, who was also carrying a boxcutter, did not fire his gun. He was pronounced dead at Jamaica Hospital.
The men with Vasconcellos, who did not flee police, have been questioned by officers. It's unclear why the men were in the park after hours.
Fatal police-involved shootings have led to protests in New York City and prosecutions of police officers.
In 2008, a judge acquitted three police officers in the fatal shooting of Sean Bell, an unarmed man killed in a 50-shot barrage on his wedding day. Bell was killed outside a strip club on Nov. 25, 2006, as he was leaving his bachelor party. Undercover officers investigating reports of prostitution at the club said they thought one of the men in Bell's group had a gun.
Ten years ago, 22-year-old Amadou Diallo was killed when he was struck 19 times by 41 bullets fired by police officers who mistook his wallet for a gun. The officers were acquitted in the February 1999 fatal shooting of the African immigrant.
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