Sean Bell

On the night of his death, Bell was hosting a bachelor party at Club Kalua, a strip club that was being investigated by undercover police over accusations that the owners fostered prostitution.The New York Post reported that Joseph Guzman had an argument with a man outside the bar, and threatened to get a gun. One of Bell’s friends reportedly said, “Yo, get my gun,” as they left the club. Thinking a shooting was about to take place, a plainclothes officer named Gescard Isnora followed Bell and his companions. He alerted his backup team, who confronted Bell and his companions outside. According to Isnora, he “held out his badge, identified himself as a police officer, and ordered the driver to stop”. Instead, Bell accelerated the car, striking Isnora, and then collided with an unmarked police minivan. Isnora said he thought he saw Guzman reach for a gun. He yelled a warning to the other policemen, and they opened fire on the car. Five policemen joined in, firing about 50 bullets into Bell’s car.Witness accounts of the event conflict with the account provided by police. According to Joseph Guzman, the plainclothes detectives never identified themselves as they approached with their weapons drawn. According to the New York Daily News, witnesses claimed the officers failed to warn Bell before opening fire, beginning to shoot as soon as they left their cars. A toxicology report showed that Bell was legally intoxicated at the time he was shot. An attorney for Bell’s family replied, “No matter what his blood-alcohol level was, he’s a victim.”

Source: Wikipedia