DISTRICT ATTORNEY FINDS NO CASE IN POLICE SHOOTING OF UNARMED SUSPECT

After a three-month investigation into the fatal shooting of an unarmed drug
suspect by a police officer, the Bronx district attorney's office has
ordered the case closed, concluding that the officer's gun discharged
accidentally during a struggle with the suspect. District Attorney Robert T.
Johnson said yesterday that the March 1 shooting of the suspect, Malcolm
Ferguson, would not be presented to a grand jury. He said the officer, Louis
Rivera, had provided a detailed account of the struggle that was
corroborated in important ways by several witnesses.

"We feel that it was not appropriate to submit this case because, under the
facts as we have them, no criminal charges would be warranted," said Mr.
Johnson, who released a 29-page report outlining the findings of the
investigation.

The shooting came five days after four police officers were acquitted in the
death of Amadou Diallo, who was shot in the vestibule of his apartment
building in the Soundview section of the Bronx. Mr. Ferguson was killed just
two blocks away, and the shooting led to angry protests in the neighborhood.

Mr. Ferguson, 23, who had been in and out of jail on drug charges, was shot
once in the head at close range as he and Officer Rivera struggled furiously
on the stairs leading to the second floor at 1045 Boynton Avenue, the
investigation concluded. Officer Rivera had chased Mr. Ferguson into the
stairwell after he and other members of a plainclothes anti-drug team had
spotted men milling in the lobby of the building and confronted them on
suspicion they were dealing drugs.

Mr. Johnson noted that his release of the detailed report, which law
enforcement officials said was unusual, offered the public a point-by-point
reconstruction based on interviews with 32 people -- 10 of them civilians --
evidence collected at the scene and two examinations of Mr. Ferguson's body.
Mr. Johnson said that had a case been presented to a grand jury, Officer
Rivera would not have been indicted and the secret testimony would never
have come out.

"This was an instance where an officer had his weapon drawn, one shot was
fired, where we in no way were able to indicate that that was an intentional
act or even a reckless act under the circumstances," he said. "And I think
upon reviewing the facts there will not be any uproar."

A statement issued by the Ferguson family's lawyer, Andrew R. Miller of
Brooklyn, said that the shooting "was totally unjustifiable and it is
inconceivable that the shooter will go unpunished in the criminal court."

Meanwhile, Stuart London, Mr. Rivera's lawyer, said that his client was
pleased by the outcome. Officer Rivera cooperated fully with the
investigation, Mr. London said, noting that the officer was interviewed
twice by Ed Talty, chief of homicide investigations for the district
attorney's office, and that he helped investigators in their reconstruction
of the shooting scene in a Bronx building.

"He didn't just sit in an office," Mr. London said. "We went to a scene to
try to explain all the facts and circumstances so that it would be easily
understandable, and that they were justified under the circumstances."

In the report's reconstruction, Officer Rivera rushed into the building,
yelling, "Police!" and pulling out his badge, after another officer signaled
that there were drug dealers in the lobby. Mr. Ferguson, who had tried to
keep the officers out by pushing the door closed, fled. Two other men
remained in the lobby, where other officers detained them, and a fourth man
ran ahead of Mr. Ferguson, the report said.

Unable to see where the fourth man was, Officer Rivera drew his 9-millimeter
semiautomatic handgun as he ran behind Mr. Ferguson. In the ensuing moments,
he grabbed at Mr. Ferguson and lost his grip as the suspect charged up the
stairs, the report said. At the first small landing between the first and
second floors, according to the report, Mr. Ferguson reached backward with
his left hand and grabbed Officer's Rivera's left arm. Their arms
interlocked.

"Stop resisting," the officer said, according to the report. "Why are you
resisting?" The two fell onto the stairs, still gripping each other. The
report said that Officer Rivera began to lose the grip on his gun. He tried
to regain the hold while also grabbing Mr. Ferguson's shoulder, leaving the
muzzle next to Mr. Ferguson's head. The weapon then discharged.

Officer Rivera said he believed that his index finger had slipped during the
struggle and pressed the trigger.

The report noted that no one saw the gun discharge, but two witnesses seated
at a window in the building just south of 1045 Boynton told investigators
they saw the men in a struggle that lasted 7 to 10 seconds. And the fourth
man, who had run ahead of Mr. Ferguson, said he had heard a "tumble" coming
from the stairs below and "grunting" noises.

In the aftermath of the shooting, the police found a plastic bag that
contained heroin inside Mr. Ferguson's shorts. The report said that Officer
Rivera had not intended to shoot Mr. Ferguson, and noted that the officer
was justified in pulling out his weapon as he faced the prospect of chasing
two drug suspects into a darkened stairwell.