Cops in the Crossfire

摘要

In a city that often skkms to have more than its share of heart-break, the story of Amadou Diallo stands out. He was by any measure a terrific young man—hardworking and quick with a smile, one of the thousands of immigrants who, year after year, come to New York to seek their fortune. And so it was shameful and terrifying that in a brutally quick misunderstanding with police, Diallo was shot dead in the vestibule of the apartment building where he lived in the Bronx. In eight seconds, the cops fired 41 rounds and scored 19 hits, smashing through Diallo's spinal column and severing the main artery to his heart. He was hit so many times he began to spin, like an animal on a spit, and he may have been dead before he hit the floor. Everyone agreed his death was a tragedy—but was it, legally, a crime?