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Mayor meets slain groom's family

BY NEWSDAY STAFF WRITER ANDREW STRICKLER AND MATTHEW NESTEL

November 29, 2006

Mayor Michael Bloomberg traveled to Queens Tuesday to offer condolences to the parents and the fiancee of Sean Bell, the man killed in a barrage of bullets fired by undercover cops as he left his bachelor party late Saturday.

"There is nothing a mayor can do to bring back their son and her fiance," Bloomberg said after the meeting with members of the Bell family and Nicole Paultre, who was to marry Bell later that day.

After the one-hour meeting at a church in Jamaica, which was also attended by Rev. Al Sharpton, Bloomberg and New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly met with about 50 community and political leaders at Thomasina's Catering Hall in St. Albans.

Bloomberg said there that he had reassured the families that his office would communicate with them as the still-murky details of the shooting become known.

"I will continue to give them every fact that I have," Bloomberg said.

Bloomberg repeated his characterization of the shooting as "excessive" but also voiced support for police, which has been heavily criticized in recent days for what many have called a brazen display of excessive force.

"I said what I believed. I'm a civilian, not a profession law enforcement officer," Bloomberg said. "If you're not there, your opinion is not worth very much."

Bell, 23, Joseph Guzman, 31, and Trent Benefield, 23, were shot soon after leaving Club Kalua, a Jamaica strip club, early Saturday morning where they had attended Bell's bachelor party.

The shooting appears to have stemmed from an undercover police operation in the club, which officials have said was being targeted for complaints of drugs and prostitution.

Kelly has said that at least one of the seven plainclothed officers present thought someone in Bell's party had a gun and that police had observed an altercation outside the club between Bell's party and another man.

When asked Tuesday about his reaction to the shooting, Kelly said, "I cannot afford to have a visceral reaction." Kelly also said police had identified another witness to the shooting but offered no further details.

Kelly has said the shooting began after Bell rammed his car into two unmarked police vehicles as he tried to drive from the club. No weapon was found in Bell's car.

Guzman, who was shot at least 11 times, was still hospitalized and listed in critical condition Tuesday at Mary Immaculate Hospital in Queens; Benefield is in stable condition with three gunshot wounds.

Two prominent civil rights advocates called Tuesday for state officials to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the shooting.

New York City Councilman James Sanders, Jr. (D-Dist. 31) who also attended the meeting, said that many in his Queens district are still deeply angry about the shooting. "I alerted the mayor that the temperature on the streets is increasing," Sanders said.