What to Know
- A Brooklyn family is demanding answers after a 44-year-old father of four died on a sidewalk after being shot while waiting for help
- The NYPD says it's suspended the two officers who responded to the initial call for failing for investigate properly
- The two officers did not get out of their patrol car while investigating the call, the NYPD said
The NYPD says it's suspended two officers after a Brooklyn man shot during an argument outside a bar early Saturday morning lay on the ground for more more than an hour and a half waiting for help after someone called 911.
Robert Fason and another man were shot during an argument with three other men outside a bar in Bedford-Stuyvesant at around 3:30 a.m. Saturday, according to police. Fason ran two blocks to find help, and collapsed in front of a home, his family said.
A witness called 911 to report an injured man. Two police officers arrived but the NYPD said Monday they never got out of their patrol car, and reported back that the call was unnecessary.
Fason laid there for another 45 minutes when the same witness called 911 again. Two different officers arrived and found the 44-year-old Fason, but he was already dead.
"He could have been saved," his wife Aloma Fason said Monday. "He laid on the ground for 45 minutes."
"The 45 minutes he was on the ground, somebody could have been working on him, trying to save his life. They left him there to bleed out to die."
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Fason's brother, Lee Fason, said, "Those officers were grossly negligent."
"If you didn't get out of the car when you get a call like that. When you get a call like that, you didn't care. You have no care. You cannot be a police officer and do that," he said.
The NYPD says those first two officers on the scene failed to follow procedure.
"The officers were suspended due to lack of investigation," said NYPD Chief Rodney Harrison. "The borough investigation unit is conducting a thorough look as to what happened."
Fason, a father of four, worked for a clothing company and was the heart of the Fason family. His brothers said they want the men who shot him caught -- but they also want the officers who failed to find Fason fired.
"What were you thinking about when you were in your car, and you were passing by?" said Melvin Fason, another brother. "Why didn't you just get out your car and take a look and see who was lying on the floor? If it was your family, wouldn't you do that?"
Aloma Fason said she's been given no explanation and no apology from the NYPD. The family is considering taking legal action against the city, she said.
