04 June, 2017
Barry had been successful in persuading her to drop her scissors however, she picked up a baseball bat instead and charged towards him.
The police commissioner and mayor have condemned the shooting. She expected officers to help take her sibling-who had schizophrenia-to the hospital, as they had on several previous occasions. He was to appear in court later Wednesday.
Sergeant Hugh Barry, 31, was arrested on charges of murder, manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the death of Deborah Danner, the New York Police Department said.
A New York police sergeant has been indicted and charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a 66-year-old mentally ill woman, a death the mayor has called unacceptable, NY Daily reports. That conclusion suggested that Danner's wielding of a bat qualified her as "armed".
"I want to express my condolences again to the Danner family for the heartbreaking loss they have suffered", said Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark in a statement.
At about 6 p.m. on October 18, Barry and he and other officers responded to a call of an emotionally disturbed person, 66-year-old Deborah Danner, at a Pugsley Avenue home in the Castle Hill section, said Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark. A spokesman for Barry's union didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.
The New York City Sergeants Benevolent Association (SBA) criticized the grand jury's decision and said it was angered by the indictment and said Barry has an extraordinary record in his eight years of service.
Barry is on suspended duty pending the outcome of the criminal case.
Perez Maldonado alleged that Barry had failed to seek critical background information on the woman or use his training for dealing with an emotional disturbed person. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio addressed the shooting in its immediate aftermath, saying "Deborah Danner should be alive right now, period".
If convicted of murder, Barry could face up to life in prison.
Civil rights activist and president of the National Action Network Rev. Al Sharpton released a statement in regard to Barry's arrest and referred to the charges as a step toward justice.
NY police Commissioner James O'Neill, meanwhile, said at the time that his department failed by not using means other than deadly force.
Danner's death evoked memories of the 1984 police killing of another black Bronx woman, Eleanor Bumpurs, who was shot after waving a knife at officers while being evicted from her apartment. "That's not how we train, our first obligation is to preserve life", said O'Neill a day after the shooting.
"Ms. Danner had a well-chronicled history of violence and mental illness", the SBA said.
