Pubdate: Wed, 24 Apr 2002 Source: Newsday (NY) Copyright: 2002 Newsday Inc. Contact: http://www.newsday.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/308 Author: Samuel Bruchey Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n783/a07.html Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) PROBING COP'S FATAL SHOT Police: Initial Clues Suggest Gun's Firing During Raid Was Accidental After examining the submachine gun that discharged Friday night outside a suspected drug house in Bellport and killed 20-year-old Jose Colon, and interviewing the police officer who carried it, Suffolk police now say the weapon was set on automatic fire. They also say the three shots that rang out during the raid were fired when Officer Tony Gonzalez inadvertently brushed the trigger. The findings reinforce the department's initial conclusion that the shooting was accidental, investigators said. "If he had squeezed the trigger, a lot more rounds would have come out," Homicide Commander Det. Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick said yesterday. Police had previously said the gun was set to fire three shots with a single trigger squeeze. Colon was killed when Gonzalez fired the weapon after being pushed forward by an officer behind him who tripped over a tree root as the Emergency Services team rushed the house about 10:30 p.m., Fitzpatrick said. A shaken Gonzalez told police that night that he knew several rounds went off but that he didn't remember taking his finger off the trigger rail, the circular piece that surrounds the trigger and is designed to prevent inadvertent firing. At a police demonstration yesterday in Brentwood, Emergency Service officer Glenn Bukowski fired off eight rounds in less than one second using a gun, set on automatic fire, of the same model Gonzalez carried. When set on automatic fire, the submachine gun fires at a rate of 800 rounds per minute, Fitzpatrick said. Despite the discovery, police still insist only three shots were fired - not as many as five, which some residents had claimed based on apparent bullet holes in and around the front door. The front door of the house was pinned back at the time of the raid and showed evidence of two of the same rounds that traveled through the house's outer wall, Fitzpatrick said. Gonzalez has returned to work since the raid but has been reassigned to desk duty pending the outcome of an investigation by the district attorney's office, Fitzpatrick said. One of the reasons for the high-risk entry, Fitzpatrick said, was police had information that several loaded handguns and a loaded rifle might be inside. Only the rifle was found, immediately inside the door. The arrival of the police van set off a flurry of activity inside the house, Fitzpatrick said. Aaron Hatcher, 29, one of four arrested on charges of marijuana and weapons possession, gave a statement to officers indicating that he ran for the front door after seeing police arrive. Hatcher, 29, exited first, followed by Colon, police said. Colon's girlfriend, who has asked not to be identified by Newsday, told police that she saw Hatcher and Colon leave the house. She also told them she heard the officers call out to the two men to drop to the ground. She watched as Hatcher dropped, she told police, and Colon continued standing. - --- MAP posted-by: Alex