Police Brutality / Individual record
Amadou Diallo
Unarmed Guinean immigrant Amadou Diallo was killed by four plainclothes NYPD officers who fired 41 shots at his Bronx home in 1999.
- Record ID
- PB-017
- Incident date
- February 4, 1999
- Date of death
- February 4, 1999
- Outcome
- Fatal
- Location
- Bronx, NY
- Category
- Police shooting
What happened
Four officers from the Street Crime Unit confronted Diallo at his apartment building in the early hours of February 4. Officers said they believed he was a suspect and mistook his wallet for a gun. Nineteen bullets struck him. His mother and community organizers challenged the use of force and demanded reforms, and demonstrations continued through the criminal proceedings.
Investigation & findings
Officers Sean Carroll, Edward McMellon, Kenneth Boss and Richard Murphy were acquitted of criminal charges in February 2000. The shooting contributed to scrutiny of stop-and-frisk practices and the disbanding of the Street Crime Unit.
Source record details
- Source incident ID
- Historical source-derived record, pre-2015
Sources & records
- Primary source
- Additional source
- Methodology and national police killings trackingMapping Police Violence · Dataset/methodology
- Published historical compilation of Black people killed in police custody (1999–2014)SAGE journal / cited NAACP LDF memorial listing · 2016 · Secondary scholarly source