Bell Shooting Indictments Announced
New York, NY —
Today we'll find out what charges police officers face for the 50 shots they fired at Sean Bell and his 2 friends back in November. A grand jury has indicted 3 of the 5 officers who opened fire.
REPORTER: The case has sparked the criticism of some New Yorkers who say police are too quick to judge black men harshly. Louis Gates is a rapper from Crown Heights.
GATES: I think all five of them should be on. All five of them. Because all of them took part in that. They did not handle it like policemen. They could have called to them or gotten them out of the car, questioned him. They didn't do none of that.
REPORTER: LeFleur Seller works at a warehouse in Brooklyn. He has family members in the NYPD.
SELLER: It's a stepping stone in the right direction because 15 to 20 years earlier, in the past, there would have been no indictments and everyone would have walked.
REPORTER: Two of the indicted officers could face manslaughter charges. The 3rd could face a reckless-endangerment charge. The officers say they're innocent. Bell was shot outside of a Queens strip club last November. Five policemen opened fire after an undercover officer thought he saw a weapon.
