Timothy Stansbury

Unarmed 19-year-old Timothy Stansbury Jr. was fatally shot in a Brooklyn housing-project stairwell while moving between buildings in January 2004.

What happened

Timothy Stansbury Jr., a high-school senior, was using a rooftop passage at the Louis Armstrong Houses in Brooklyn shortly before 1 a.m. on January 24, 2004, when a patrol officer encountered him at a stairwell doorway. Officer Richard Neri fired a round into Stansbury's chest at close range. Neri later said the door swung open unexpectedly and the shot was accidental. NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly initially acknowledged that the known facts appeared not to justify the shooting. Stansbury's family described him as a working student with no criminal record and challenged the use of a drawn firearm in that encounter. His death sparked protests against lethal policing in public housing.

Investigation & findings

A grand jury declined to indict Neri in February 2004, despite the commissioner's initial public statement that the shooting appeared unjustified. That grand-jury result does not negate the loss or family objections.

What happened

Investigation & findings

Sources & records