Protest Held In Brooklyn Over Deadly Police Shooting Of Shantel Davis
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A protest over a deadly police shooting in East Flatbush this week began at noon in Brooklyn on Saturday.
23-year-old Shantel Davis died after she was shot in the chest as she tried to drive off in a stolen car that police said she had crashed.
1010 WINS' Gary Baumgarten reports
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Officers in an unmarked vehicle saw the car run red lights on Church Avenue and then slam into a minivan. An officer got into the car and tried to shift gear, but his gun went off and he hit Davis.
City Councilman Jumaane Williams told 1010 WINS reporter Gary Baumgarten that as a Councilman he wanted to tell his people to wait for the police to conduct an investigation, but that the number of police involved shootings in the city have made it difficult to do so.
"I want to be able to tell my community to give the NYPD the benefit of the doubt, but they elected me to tell the truth," he said.
People in the neighborhood told 1010 Wins that the officer whose bullet killed Davis -- Detective Phil Atkins -- harassed them. The city has paid more than $200,000 to settle lawsuits over alleged brutality involving Atkins, according to the New York Times.
Davis was unarmed at the time of the shooting, but she was previously a suspect in an armed carjacking that took place on June 5th and an armed home invasion that took place in April.
Were you in the area during the protest? What was it like? Share your stories and comments in the section below...
