Hot News: Cop in fatal Bronx shooting broke NYPD mental-illness procedure

The sergeant who fatally shot a troubled 66-year-old Bronx woman ^[1] did not follow NYPD procedures on how to handle the mentally ill, the city's top cop said Wednesday.

"We do have policies and procedures for emotionally disturbed people and it appears those procedures weren't followed," NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill told reporters about the death following a breakfast sponsored by the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City.

Sgt. Hugh Barry was stripped of his badge and gun after he fatally shot Deborah Danner inside her Pugsley Ave. apartment near Seward Ave. in Castle Hill Tuesday evening.

Danner was "acting in an irrational manner" and threatened Barry and his team with scissors, officials said. Barry had convinced Danner to drop the scissors she was threatening cops with but shot her twice when she swung a baseball bat at him.

Stun guns: A matter of safety for both cops and civilians ^[2]

Danner, who had tweeted in July about amending the second amendment to stop gun violence in the streets, was rushed to Jacobi Medical Center but couldn't be saved.

"That's not how it's supposed to go," O'Neill said. "Our policy is isolate and contain. What's clear in this instance is that we failed. When a life is taken as it was last night you have to ask tough questions and that's what we will do."

"It's distressing to me the incident ended up this way," he added. "We are going to investigate this."

A retired NYPD cop related to Danner also lashed out against Barry Wednesday morning, claiming he would have handled the confrontation "totally different."

Former top cop Bill Bratton led push for stun guns ^[3]

"My cousin was mentally ill for years," Wallace Cooke Jr., 74, said outside of Danner's Castle Hill home. "I worked in Harlem in the 26th Precinct. And I had many cases, all mentally ill people. I never had to shoot anybody or pull my gun on them."

Shortly after the shooting, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and Public Advocate Letitia James demanded to know why Barry, an eight-year veteran of the NYPD with an unblemished record, didn't use a department-issued stun gun to disarm the schizophrenic woman.

The victim's sister, who served as the guardian for her mentally ill sibling, recounted Wednesday how cops charged toward Deborah Danner's apartment — followed by three gunshots.

"I want to make it very clear that the New York City police department has once again failed to properly respond to deal with mentally ill patients without resorting to deadly physical force," said the victim's sister, Jennifer Danner.

Police shooting of Bronx woman eerily similar to 1984 incident ^[4]

She called on prosecutors from Attorney General Loretta Lynch to state attorney general Eric Schneiderman to Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark to investigate the fatal shooting.

"Our office is reviewing the incident to determine whether or not it falls within the Attorney General's jurisdiction," said a statement from Schneiderman's office.

Mayor de Blasio chimed in on the shooting as well, tweeting late Tuesday, "We're determined to get to the bottom of what happened and won't rest until we do."

Danner's neighbors also demanded to know why lethal force was used.

"Of course she had mental issues," neighbor Kirk Patrick, 57, said about Danner, who he would often see in the building's laundry room. "But people have problems. It doesn't mean you just go and shoot nobody. It's crazy that they did this."

The NYPD's Force Investigations Division was investigating the shooting, but Cooke said that Barry and his team clearly mishandled the situation from the outset.

"If you're not aware of her condition, if you just came on the patrol for the first time, you should know how to deal with mentally ill people," said Cooke, who retired from the NYPD in 1984 after 15 years with the department.

"The other more simple thing they could've done is just close the goddamn door. It's as simple as that. Where was she going? Close the door. She didn't have no gun."

Cooke said cops had been called to his cousin's home "numerous, numerous times over the years," and should have known of her condition.

"If you're not aware of her condition, if you just came on the patrol for the first time, you should know how to deal with mentally ill people," he said.

"I resent she being dead this morning because I would have handled it totally different."

Danner's Twitter feed contained her opinions on a variety of issues, including this one: "Wherever this Life's Journey leads and whatever happens, I GO DOWN FIGHTING!!!!"

The senior citizen also described herself as "a work in progress ... a gem in the rough. I'll smooth out soon."

And Danner weighed in against the lack of gun control: "With so much GUN VIOLENCE around us innocents, would someone PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE sponsor AMENDING THE SECOND AMENDMENT to reflect the (21st century)."

Ed Mullins, the president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, said the shooting was initially deemed justified — until elected officials began asking questions.

"Up until that point, everyone agreed it was justified, but then (Chief of Patrol Terence) Monahan's balls shrink and politics come into play," Mullins said. "When I asked people why was he modified, everyone kind of rolled their eyes, 'Well, you know the climate.' It's political."

"(The NYPD) is lying to the public," he said. "They should be up front about what happened. Now what we have is a perception of wrongdoing and politics."

The police had been called to Danner's home four times prior to the fatal shooting over the years, an NYPD source said.

With Rocco Parascandola, Aidan McLaughlin ^[5]^[6]