MOUNT PLEASANT, N.Y. — A Pace University varsity football player was shot and killed by police early Sunday in a chaotic bar brawl in Thornwood, N.Y., during the school's homecoming weekend, police said.
The student, Danroy Henry, 20, of Easton, Mass., was allegedly trying to speed away from the scene as police arrived and was shot at by two police officers — one was standing in the way of his car and the other was clinging to the hood.
During the incident, two police officers sustained minor injuries and Henry's front-seat passenger suffered a minor gunshot wound. All three were treated and released from Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, N.Y.
"It's horrendous, it's something that I would hope would never have happened here, but unfortunately it did and we'll proceed with a very, very thorough investigation," Mount Pleasant Police Chief Louis Alagno said at a morning press conference.
Alagno would not release several details of the incident, including the names of the officers involved, the names of Henry's two passengers and how many shots were fired. He described the two officers who shot at Henry as veterans with at least five years' experience.
According to a Mount Pleasant police news release, several Mount Pleasant town and Pleasantville, N.Y., village police officers responded at around 1:20 a.m. to a disturbance at a bar at a corner of a strip mall that is a short drive from Pace's campus.
More than 150 people were at the front of the bar and in the parking lot, where sporadic fights broke out even after police arrived, Alagno said. Police approached Henry's vehicle, which was parked in a fire lane. When an officer knocked on the car window, Henry sped off, police said.
A Pleasantville officer tried stopping the vehicle, but Henry accelerated into him and the cop ended up on the hood of the car, police said.
While still clinging onto the hood as the car continued to accelerate, the Pleasantville officer shot at Henry, the release stated. The vehicle continued down the fire lane, moving directly toward another Mount Pleasant officer, who also fired at the vehicle, which finally hit a Mount Pleasant police cruiser and came to a stop.
Alagno said investigators believe the Pleasantville officer fired the fatal shot.
Henry and his front-seat passenger were transported to Westchester Medical Center, where Henry was pronounced dead and the male passenger was treated for a "minor gunshot wound," the release stated. The passenger was not a Pace student, a Pace spokesman said.
Alagno said he spoke with Henry's parents after the incident.
"They're extremely distraught. I expressed my deepest sympathies for their loss," he said.
The Mount Pleasant officer who fired at Henry will be put on administrative duty, Alagno said, but he added that none of the other officers were yet facing modified duty or suspension.
Pace released a statement Sunday, saying, "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."
A campus-only vigil was planned for 9 p.m. Sunday night.
Pace freshman Kelly Van Wort said she was leaving the bar with friends when she heard what she said sounded like four gunshots.
At first, she said, "I didn't think it was gunshots, I just thought I was hearing things. ... But the minute we left, people started calling and texting like, 'Oh my God, they just shot Danroy,' freaking out."
She said Henry had been a designated driver.
"I don't know why they shot him at all," she said. "I figure when cops shoot at somebody, there's a reason for it, like to get somebody to back off. But to shoot him four times, that's a little unnecessary. ... Someone told me he hit one of the cops. I don't think someone deserves to die for that."
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