Community outraged at police killing of Bed-Stuy teen

Many Brooklyn residents are voicing their outrage while they mourn the death of 18-year-old Khiel Coppin, who was shot and killed by police Monday. "We all know as humans, it's quite possible to bring

News 12 Staff

Nov 15, 2007, 1:45 AM

Updated 6,173 days ago

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Many Brooklyn residents are voicing their outrage while they mourn the death of 18-year-old Khiel Coppin, who was shot and killed by police Monday.
"We all know as humans, it's quite possible to bring a man down with only one or two bullets," Bed-Stuy resident Michael Freeman-Saulsberre says. Coppin was shot with 20 bullets.
Candles burn outside the Gates Ave. apartment where Coppin was killed.
Some of the details surrounding the incident remain unclear. New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says officers had reason to believe Coppin was armed because he said so in a 911 call before police responded to a dispute.
Coppin?s family maintains otherwise. ?When police officers arrived at his front door, he told them he didn't have a gun,? Paul Wooten, the family?s attorney, says. He also says Coppin had a history of mental distress.
Kelly says several witnesses back up the officers? claim that Coppin refused to surrender to police. He says the officers fired shots when Coppin started pulling out a dark object, which turned out to be a hairbrush.
Kelly says the officers reasonably believed Coppin was about to use deadly force against them and followed protocol.
Residents say they are praying for Coppin?s mother and the rest of his family.
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