Nassau Police Union Blasts Retired NYPD Cop at Scene of Friendly Fire Death: MyFoxNY.com
As the mourning officially began for Nassau Police Officer Geoffrey Breitkopf, the police union is assigning blame in the friendly fire death.
Nassau PBA President James Carver said that retired NYPD Sgt. John Cafarella is known to show up uninvited at crime scenes, and that is exactly what he did on Saturday night.
"He was in background... being a nuisance," Carver said of Cafarella.
Carver claims Cafarella yelled "gun" causing the confusion that led to an MTA police officer fatally shooting Officer Breitkopf
Police have not officially confirmed Carver's claims, but are investigating.
Meanwhile, the family of the man who allegedly started the whole incident is also in mourning.
David DiGeronimo sobbed inside his doorway on the day he buried his son.
"Why didn't they use a stun gun? They could have shot him in the leg. They didn't have to kill him. My son didn't have to die," he stated. He wondered why officers didn't shot him in the leg or with a Taser.
Det. Lt. Kevin Smith said that cops shoot to stop, not to kill, to save live and defend themselves.
DiGeronimo's son Anthony -- who police describe as a Satan worshipper -- barricaded himself in his room Saturday night. Police said he then lunged at cops with knives, so they shot and killed him in self-defense. DiGeronimo's father says his son was a good boy who snapped.
Nassau police officials said they won't argue with a man who is grieving the loss of his son. But they do say that Tasers and rubber bullets work on TV. The officers believed their lives were threatened and they did what they had to do.
He's a lonely action junkie. It was mentioned that he has a police scanner and keeps it on all day, monitoring police activities. Nevertheless, the uniformed officer should not have panicked the way he did. The plain clothes officer did not have his weapon raised and positioned in a threatening manner. He should have been afforded the opportunity to throw his hands in the air and identify himself. But instead he was immediately shot by an officer who really had no business being there. That MTA cop is like a whole bunch other cops who show up at these scenes - they just want to been seen.
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