Early Saturday morning around 2 a.m., an undercover police officer shot and killed a 22-year-old Queens man after he pointed a gun at him and another officer. Earlier in the night, Ronnie Smalls had run from police when they approached him because they recognized him as a known criminal--he'd been arrested nine times before--and suspected he was carrying a gun. When they saw Smalls a second time, he ran again. According to the Associated Press account, with two undercover police chasing on foot and the third giving chase in a car, the officer in the car said he saw the suspect pull his gun and point it at the pursuing officers. At that point, Smalls either tripped or was tackled and the closest pursuing officer fired four shots at Smalls as they struggled on the ground.
Smalls was struck twice in the head and once in the leg and later died at Peninsula Hospital Center. His father questioned whether the shooting was justified, saying that from what he could see, his son was brutally beaten and then killed by police. A .380 caliber semi-automatic pistol was recovered at the scene. The New York Times reports that Ronnie Smalls' picture was posted at the 100th Precinct House in Queens and was well known to local officers. He allegedly went by the street name "Thug." A woman who identified herself as his aunt said he was "a good person, a very nice person."
Saturday morning's shooting was the 8th time since the start of the new year that police have had guns pulled on them and the fourth officer-involved shooting in the first five days of 2008.
