What to Know
- A grand jury voted not to indict the New Rochelle police officer on the shooting death of an apparent armed suspect during a traffic stop in June.
- Officers stopped a car near Potter Avenue and Pierce Street just before 11 p.m. June 5 for what the police later described in a statement at the time as multiple traffic and vehicle violations.
- The police department says Kamal Flowers, 24, of New Rochelle, fled the car on foot after the stop. Police gave chase, ultimately firing a stun gun to try and stop him. After a struggle, police said, Flowers pulled a gun and tried to fire on the officers. One officer, Alec McKenna, returned fire, hitting him once. Flowers died in an ambulance en route to the hospital.
A grand jury voted not to indict the New Rochelle police officer on the shooting death of an apparent armed suspect during a traffic stop in June.
Officers stopped a car near Potter Avenue and Pierce Street just before 11 p.m. June 5 for what the police later described in a statement at the time as multiple traffic and vehicle violations.
The police department says Kamal Flowers, 24, of New Rochelle, fled the car on foot after the stop. Police gave chase, ultimately firing a stun gun to try and stop him.
After a struggle, police said, Flowers pulled a gun and tried to fire on the officers. One officer, Alec McKenna, returned fire, hitting him once. Flowers died in an ambulance en route to the hospital.
A Ruger 9mm handgun was recovered from Flowers, police said. The driver of the vehicle, a 2019 black Dodge Sedan, fled the scene, according to police at the time. It is unclear if he has since been located.
On Wednesday, Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr. said during a press conference that four law enforcement agencies collaborated with the investigation and all confirmed that Flowers was armed at the time of the incident with "an operable weapon."
McKenna testified before a grand jury, as did 35 other individuals, including eight expert witnesses, one of which was a representative of the manufacturer of the stun gun discharged by the police officer the night of the incident.
Scarpino also said that at the time of the shooting, Flowers had a 9mm Ruger semi-automatic handgun with 10 rounds of ammunition found in Flowers' pocket. Additionally, Scarpino said, forensics analysis on the weapon matched Flowers' DNA.
The grand jury was provided with the charge of intentional murder and was instructed on "defense of justification" as to the "use of force and deadly physical force by the police," but found no reasonable cause to make an indictment, Scarpino said.
During Wednesday's press conference, when Scarpino was asked about information regarding "possible racial slurs from police officers" at the time of the incident, he offered no comment.
News
Although the criminal case in now closed, a civil case further down the road may be able to examine other aspects of the case, Scarpino said.
