Spring Valley Police Officer Will Not Be Indicted In Fatal Shooting Of Haitian Immigrant
NEW CITY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A Rockland County grand jury has decided that a police officer was justified when he killed an agitated Haitian immigrant in an early-morning shooting outside a bar last year.
The grand jury found no crime had been committed in the Dec. 14 shooting of Herve Gilles, 48, of Spring Valley, Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said Tuesday.
An investigation found that Gilles, who had a record of drunkenness and mental illness, was beating Spring Valley Officer John Roper with Roper's nightstick when the officer fired, hitting Gilles in the neck and then in the head, Zugibe said.
"Roper was in fear for his life,'' Zugibe said.
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The officer had been summoned to to El Buen Gusto bar and restaurant on a report that Gilles was causing a disturbance.
Gilles' survivors are unhappy with the grand jury finding and will seek a federal investigation, said family attorney Sanford Rubenstein. He said a wrongful death lawsuit would be filed against Spring Valley and Roper.
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"The grand jury relied too heavily on the officer's testimony,'' Rubenstein said. "We were told no independent witnesses came forward, so we feel we don't really know what happened.''
"At the very least it's an issue of training,'' he added. "Roper knew Herve Gilles was a paranoid schizophrenic and an alcoholic, and he shouldn't have ended up dead.''
Maria Elias, Gilles' step-sister, believes he should've been taken in for treatment, not shot to death.
"We are very disappointed in the results," Elias said. "The fight for justice continues."
Some in Spring Valley's large Haitian community alleged racial discrimination, and there have been several demonstrations demanding justice.
Last week, a grand jury in neighboring Westchester County also found no crime in a fatal police shooting there.
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