Tragedy In Blue

It was zero with the wind chill when 3,000 cops came to Providence, R.I. this week to bury one of their own, CBS News Correspondent Jim Axelrod reports.

Cornel Young, Jr., a young black cop, died doing his job. Off duty and in street clothes January 28, he tried to help two white officers confronting a suspect outside a diner. Investigators say the officers ordered Young to drop his weapon and fired when he didn't.

It is still unclear whether Young identified himself as a cop.

The loss is tragic and painful for everyone in Providence, but especially for Maj. Cornel Young, Sr., the citys highest ranking African-American policeman. The father and cop might find himself in a struggle between keeping the peace on his force -- and getting justice for his son.

"I am a law enforcement officer," he explains, "and I have to have confidence in law enforcement. I want to find out what happened to my son, and anyone that can help me do that that's fine."

The city is learning what people in too many other American cities have already found out. When you bury an officer killed on the job, its heartbreaking; when he's killed by a fellow policeman, it's somehow even more cruel; but when a black cop is killed by a white cop -- accident or not -- its no longer just about grief. Now, its about race.

And few things in the United States drown out a discussion the way race can. In Providence, where many residents are convinced that two white cops saw a black man and started shooting, the lines were drawn before the facts were in.

Balbina Young, Providence city council, acknowledges the power of her word choice when she recalls, "They just said they felt he was assassinated."

Mayor Vincent Cianci drew some quick conclusions of his own. "I dont think this had to do with race," he said. "I think this has to do with guns."

Later, he seemed more willing to wait for the facts. He now asks, "And does race have something to do with it? I dont know but we certainly want to find out."

The city has found it difficult to maintain order when everyones yelling, few are listening and no one waits for the facts.

"Id rather jump the gun than to have maybe a cover-up on this," Balbina Young says. "Id rather jump the gun than to have anybody think that somebody is going to get away with something."

Friday night, the father whose words could sway an entire city was talking. "If you knew my son," Maj. Young says softly, "You'd know he wouldn't want a city torn apart because of him." But as the air of solemn respect fades, a cold air of divisiveness can be felt blowing in.