Suffolk County police shot and killed 20-year-old Jose Colon during a late-night SWAT-style raid on an alleged marijuana sales operation in Bellport, New York, on 19 April 2002.[1][2] Colon was unarmed and carrying no drugs when a bullet from Officer Tony Gonzalez’s 9 mm submachine gun struck him in the head, killing him instantly.[1] He had just walked out of the front door of a North Bellport house with a companion as heavily armed Emergency Services officers advanced with guns drawn and a police helicopter overhead.[1]
Police said the shooting was accidental: an officer carrying a battering ram tripped over a tree root and bumped into Gonzalez, discharging at least three bullets.[1][2] Chief Philip Robiletto said Colon and his companion Aaron Hatcher had been ordered to drop to the ground and show their hands, adding: “He didn’t, and that’s when the accident occurred.”[1]
Colon belonged to the Victory Church of God in Bellport, worked at Jiffy-Lube and was in his final semester at Briarcliff College studying computer graphics; he had stopped at the house to repay a $20 debt while his pregnant girlfriend waited in the car.[1] His sister Eva said: “They killed an innocent kid.”[1]
Aftermath
Police found between half a pound and a pound of marijuana and a rifle in the house, arrested four men on marijuana possession charges including Hatcher, and also charged Hatcher with possessing the rifle.[1] Colon had no criminal record, and there was no indication that he bought, sold or used marijuana.[2] Gonzalez was placed on administrative duty, and a Suffolk County grand jury declined to indict him in August 2002.[2]
