Law enforcement officials are investigating the fatal shooting by police of a Pace University football player during a dramatic series of events outside a local restaurant early Sunday.
Mount Pleasant Police Chief Louis Alagno called the shooting in Thornwood which left one dead and another Pace student injured "horrendous.''
Alagno said today at a news conference that the major case unit of the state police and Westchester County crime scene experts have joined the probe.
The victim, Danroy Henry, was a junior at the suburban Westchester County campus. He was a varsity defensive football player there and was from Easton, Mass.
"We extend the deepest sympathies of our community to Mr. Henry’s family and friends. We are working with the police investigation and as appropriate will share more information when it becomes available," university officials said.
Students held a candlelight vigil for Henry Sunday night.
A second victim, identified as Brandon Cox was wounded in the melee that happened around 1:20 a.m. outside Finnegan's Grill. Both were shot inside a moving vehicle operated by Henry, police said. Cox, a football player from Stonehill College and apparently a high school friend of Henry's, is from Massachusetts and is recovering at a Westchester hospital, sources said.
The dramatic events started when several Mount Pleasant town and Pleasantville village police responded to a disturbance at Finnegan's Grill, on 1006 Broadway, early Sunday.
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Police Chief Louis Alagno said a "big fight" started in the parking lot of Finnegan's -- and the brawl even continued after the shooting.
"As officers attempted to quell the situation a Mount Pleasant officer approached an occupied vehicle parked in the fire lane, but upon knocking on the driver's window, the vehicle suddenly sped away," law enforcement officials said of the incident.
The speeding car struck the officer, who wound up on the hood of the vehicle, which continued to accelerate, the press release said.
A Mount Pleasant officer attempted to pull the Pleasantville officer from the hood of the car, police said, and then that officer was struck by the car, according to a press release. That's when the officer on the hood of the car opened fire through the windshield. A second officer also fired at the car, police say.
The vehicle, which had three people inside, then struck a parked Mount Pleasant police car before coming to a stop, officials said. It is unclear if the car struck the other vehicle because Henry had been shot.
Alagno said both a Pleasantville and Mount Pleasant officer fired at the car. Henry was killed and Cox, in the front seat, was wounded. A third passenger was unharmed. Two officers were also treated and released, Alagno said.
Meanwhile, Thomas Parks, father of Brandon Cox, said Monday that slain driver believed police wanted them to get out of a fire lane, so he drove forward.
But Parks said that's when the pair saw an officer climb on the car's hood and shoot into their vehicle.
The father of the third passenger, Desmond Hinds, who was apparently in the backseat, told NBCNewYork that Henry was a great young man.
"I want to establish that was a great kid. A great kid. No drugs, no guns, no negative vibes," he said.
"My son Desmond Jr. was in the backseat. Shots fired into a car where there were no guns, no drugs... that's not right," Desmond Hinds Sr. told NBCNewYork. His mother said Hinds is on the Dean's list at school.
Chief Alagno refused to comment on why deadly force was used. He described the officers involved as "veterans."
"Everyone is distraught. This is a tragic incident," he said.
