Residents of the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood where the shooting occurred rallied in the street as police investigated the incident MESSAGE BOARDS: Police brutality Crime and punishment

August 31, 1999
Web posted at: 1:20 p.m. EDT (1720 GMT)

In this story: 'He had a hammer, not a gun' Ordered to drop hammer, but didn't Police urge calm RELATED STORIES, SITES

NEW YORK (CNN) -- New York police acted properly when they shot and killed a hammer-wielding man who was attacking a police sergeant, Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Tuesday.

Following a preliminary police investigation into the death of Gary Busch, a man described by family and neighbors as emotionally disturbed, the mayor asked that police be given "the benefit of the doubt."

He said the Brooklyn District Attorney's office would conduct a further investigation into Monday night's incident in Borough Park, a close-knit Orthodox Jewish neighborhood.

The shooting brought hundreds of people onto the streets, some claiming police used excessive force.

Busch was known in the neighborhood for his outbursts, and police had been called about him many times. But some people were angry, and said officers should have used nonlethal force to subdue him.

"He wasn't well. He had a hammer, not a gun," said one woman in the crowd. "This is not right. We need justice."

Police said the officers tried to control Busch with Mace when he lashed out at them.

"The subject struck Sgt. O'Brian several times on his left arm with the hammer," according to New York Police Department Assistant Chief Joe Raguso. "Four of the six officers present discharged their firearms, striking the subject."

Giuliani, who met with police and community leaders on Tuesday morning to discuss the incident, said police fired 12 shots at the 6-foot-4 inch, 190-pound man.

The injured officer, Sgt. Terrence O'Brian, was treated for a cut on his left arm.

A neighborhood woman says "we need justice," at a rally in the street

Police said they responded after someone called 911 to report that Busch was brandishing a hammer and threatening children.

When officers arrived, they said they found the 31-year-old man in the basement of his house.

According to police, the officers went back outside and Busch followed them, still carrying the hammer.

Officer Daniel Gravitch sprayed Mace on Busch but failed to subdue him, police said. In the confusion, they said, O'Brian fell to the ground and the man swung at him, striking him on the left arm.

Busch was given several orders to drop the hammer but when he did not do so, the officers shot him, said Police Commissioner Howard Safir.

Safir said that seven independent witnesses had confirmed the police version of the incident.

Police said Busch was involved in another hammer attack on Sunday, when he used the tool to dent a parked car and attack the man inside, hitting him in the face.

The shooting victim allegedly attacked a police officer with a hammer

Busch, who was wearing a prayer shawl and leather pouches containing pieces of scripture when he was shot, was not raised in the Orthodox community but had recently moved there and was said to be more religious.

His mother, Doris Busch Boskey of Dix Hills, Long Island, told The New York Times that her son had recently joined an extremely religious group and that he had been refusing treatment for a kidney ailment and depression.

"He needed help," said Mrs. Boskey, who is married to a psychiatrist. She added: "I don't know why they couldn't have found another way. I don't know why they had to kill my son."

As police investigated the shooting, some protesters blocked traffic in Borough Park. There were no arrests during the mostly peaceful gathering that lasted well into Tuesday morning.

Police asked for calm. "What I would beg of the community," said Raguso, "is patience to let the investigation go forth."

But in recent months the NYPD has had to ask for patience more than once as the department's reputation suffers:

• In February, African immigrant Amadou Diallo, unarmed and at his doorstep, was mistakenly killed by police searching for a rape suspect. Forty-one shots were fired at Diallo -- 19 of them striking him. The four officers involved have pleaded not guilty to charges brought against them.
  
  
• In May, a police officer admitted to sexually torturing Haitian immigrant Abner Louima in a precinct bathroom. Another officer was convicted of violating Louima's civil rights.

Correspondent Marina Hinojosa and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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