GOSHEN, N.Y. — Paramedics ignored a handcuffed and dying college football player shot by police and attended to injured officers for several minutes while his friend stood by screaming for help, a lawyer hired by the student’s family charged Wednesday, calling for an independent investigation into the death.
Brandon Cox, who was grazed by a police bullet in the burst of gunfire that killed Danroy “D.J.” Henry, left the car under his own power after the shooting, then realized no one was helping Henry, lawyer Michael Sussman said.
“He saw the police come to the vehicle, drag his friend out, handcuff his friend, lay his friend head-down on the ground, and no help was coming,” Sussman said.
When paramedics arrived and began tending to the officers, Cox began screaming for help: “We’ve been shot! We’ve been shot!” Twelve to 15 minutes passed before Henry received medical help, according to Cox, Sussman said.
Messages seeking comment on the paramedic’s actions were left with a spokesman for the Westchester police, which made the arrests. Sussman did not know which ambulance company answered the call, and a Mount Pleasant police dispatcher said the department uses several companies.
Mount Pleasant police Chief Louis Alagno, who is investigating the shooting with state police, did not return a call seeking comment. Alagno said Monday that Henry was handcuffed until officers realized he was gravely wounded, then was uncuffed and treated.
Police have said that Henry, a 20-year-old Pace University student, sped away and hit two officers after a policeman knocked on his window. But Sussman said Wednesday that eyewitness accounts from Cox, a third man in the car who wasn’t injured and others contradict that story.
