The New York Times-20080129-4 Named in Shooting of Fellow Officer

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4 Named in Shooting of Fellow Officer

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The authorities in Westchester County on Monday released the names and photographs of the county police officers involved in the shooting death of an off-duty officer from the nearby city of Mount Vernon.

The off-duty officer, Christopher A. Ridley, 23, was shot on Friday while he tried to break up a fight between two men outside a county social services office here. The authorities have said he was holding a gun at the time.

The shooting of Officer Ridley, who was black, has been denounced by some activists and religious leaders as having been racially motivated.

Thomas Belfiore, the county's public safety commissioner, said that four county officers converged on the scene of the fight that afternoon: Detective Robin Martin, who is black; Officers Jose Calero and Christian Gutierrez, who are Hispanic; and Officer Frank Oliveri, who is white.

Officials would not comment on how many of the officers fired at Officer Ridley, or even how many shots were fired.

The officers' diverse makeup, however, added a new dimension to the shooting. On Sunday, the Rev. W. Franklyn Richardson, pastor at Grace Baptist Church in Mount Vernon, a predominantly black congregation in an overwhelmingly black city, called Officer Ridley's death an outrageous execution of a young African-American.

In an interview on Monday, the Rev. Al Sharpton, who is representing the officer's family, said: The question is not the race of the police. The question is whether the police would behave differently based on the race of the victim.

Last Friday, about 5 p.m., according to the police in White Plains, who are investigating the shooting, Officer Ridley drove past the district offices of the county's Department of Social Services at 85 Court Street and came upon a fight involving a Bronx man on his way home from work and a homeless man, Anthony Jacobs. Officer Ridley, who was not in uniform, stepped out of his car and tried to intervene in the dispute; at some point, he had a gun in his hands -- either one that he carried or one that he picked up during the fight.

The authorities on Monday would not discuss what they believed happened next. But they said that Detective Martin and Officer Calero, who were assigned to the social services offices, rushed to the scene, where they were joined by Officer Gutierrez and Officer Oliveri, who work in the county government building across the street.

The police said they interviewed 35 witnesses to the shooting, some who were close enough to see and hear the commotion and others who observed it from office buildings and stores.

None of the witnesses recalled hearing Officer Ridley identify himself as a police officer, said a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation who insisted on anonymity because he is not authorized to speak.

Mr. Jacobs, who was waiting for a van that would take him and several other men to a shelter when the fight broke out, was arrested on assault and weapons possession charges afterward. He has since given two videotaped statements to investigators, his lawyer, Arlene Popkin, said at his arraignment in White Plains City Court on Monday. She did not enter a plea or request bail on his behalf.

Until Friday, none of the county officers who were present at the shooting had discharged their weapons while on duty, Mr. Belfiore said. But some time after the officers encountered Officer Ridley, at least one of them fired. Earlier accounts said that he was hit twice in the chest, but Mr. Richardson, the pastor, said that Officer Ridley had been shot at least four times, in the head, hip, wrist and chest. The authorities here have refused to discuss Mr. Richardson's statements.

Every officer I know dreads the day that they may be called upon to use deadly physical force on any member of any community, Mr. Belfiore said. It is especially tragic when it turns out that one of the lives lost is that of a fellow police officer.

Aside from certain investigative duties, county police officers are responsible for traffic enforcement on Westchester County's parkways and for safeguarding parks and buildings.

The four officers are now on leave and will be placed on administrative duties once they return to work, the commissioner said.

On Monday, Officer Ridley, who joined the Mount Vernon police in January 2006, was promoted to detective posthumously. According to those who knew him, he was a man who always strove to do the right thing.

Officer Ridley served as a youth mentor at Grace Baptist, Mr. Richardson said. In Mount Vernon, where drugs, gangs and violence have claimed many young lives, Officer Ridley would spend time telling teenage boys that there are rewards to those who make the right decisions, one of the church's ushers said.

He was concerned about our young in the community and he wanted to get together to talk about his ideas of what could be done to help them, said Mount Vernon's mayor, Clinton I. Young..

Officer Ridley was born in Mount Vernon and moved to Voorhees, N.J., with his mother, Felita Bouche, after she and his father divorced when he was 5. Twelve years later, he returned to Mount Vernon and enrolled at Westchester Community College.

His dream was always to be a police officer, a cousin, Danielle Scholar, said.On the day Officer Ridley graduated from the Police Academy, he visited the church to show off his new uniform.

He was so proud, Mr. Richardson recalled in an interview. He was a role model.

[Illustration]PHOTOS: Clockwise from bottom left: Detective Robin Martin; Officers Jose Calero, Christian Gutierrez and Frank Oliveri.; Detective Joseph Palmiotto of the White Plains police looking for witnesses on Monday where the shooting occurred.(PHOTOGRAPH BY ALAN ZALE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES); Anthony Jacobs(pg. B2)