OUTRAGE AT POLICE SHOOTING

Family Says Unarmed 20-Year-Old Was an 'Innocent Kid'

The family of a young Bellport man killed by Suffolk police during a drug
raid Friday night voiced grief and outrage yesterday over the shooting of a
loved one they called an unarmed, "innocent kid."

Police continued to investigate the shooting, but reiterated that it
appeared to be accidental. "There will be other interviews, we still have
things that will still need to be determined," said Det. Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick.

A Suffolk police helicopter was hovering overhead and at least eight
heavily armed officers of the elite Emergency Services unit were swarming
on 862 Doane Ave. when Jose Colon, 20, emerged from the house about 10:40 p.m.

He was there to repay a debt, friends and relatives said yesterday, when
police raided the single-story blue-paneled house suspected of being a drug
den.

Colon's relatives said his pregnant girlfriend sat in a car 20 to 30 feet
away when he was shot once in the head. She could not be reached yesterday,
and it was not known what she had seen.

"They killed an innocent kid," said Colon's sister, Ana Colon, 25.

She said Jose stayed away from trouble, worked hard and enjoyed the
computer. He was a senior at Briarcliffe College where he excelled in
computer graphics.

"This is a nightmare, I can't stop shaking. I can't believe they killed my
brother," she said.

Fitzpatrick said that under department policy the matter would be reviewed
by the internal affairs unit and then turned over to the Suffolk County
district attorney's office for further scrutiny.

Fitzpatrick said the shooting happened shortly after the police arrived at
the house. As four officers emerged from the back of a van, he said, Colon
and Aaron Hatcher exited the house.

He said the officers ordered them to "show your hands" and "drop to the
ground." He said Hatcher quickly complied, but Colon did not immediately do
so. "It is not known whether Mr. Colon . . . to comply or not," he said.

Fitzpatrick said the raid turned deadly when an officer carrying a
battering ram tripped on a tree root, bumping into the lead officer,
causing both to fall to the ground. As the first officer fell he
accidentally fired three shots, one fatally wounding Colon.

Tahra Keyes, 25, of Hartford, who was visiting a cousin who lives directly
across the street from where Colon was shot, said yesterday she was
standing in the doorway when the raid began.

"I didn't hear them say anything. I just heard helicopters and shooting,"
she said.

At the crackle of gunfire she dove to the floor, she said, instructing her
other relatives in the house to do likewise. When she looked across the
street again, Colon's body was lying limp on the ground.

Yesterday, Colon's relatives and friends tearfully gathered at the
blood-soaked spot where he was shot. They left flowers, candles and stuffed
animals near the bullet-riddled house.

"He was a good kid," said Joseph Torres, 20, of Patchogue, who knew Colon
growing up. "That could have been anybody."

A teary-eyed Alfredo Quinones, 19, of Bellport said Colon was "just
starting his career off" as a graphic designer.

"He was set for life," he said. "Now his brains are splatter on the floor
and his whole family is crying hysterically. That's just not right."

Police said they recovered between 8 ounces and one pound of marijuana and
a loaded semi-automatic rifle from the house.

Hatcher, 20, was charged with second-degree possession of marijuana and
possession of a weapon, a semi-automatic rifle that police said they found
in the house and belonged to him. William Holloway, 34, Romell May, 24, and
Wendell Mabry, 30, were also charged with second-degree possession of
marijuana. The four, all of Bellport, were arraigned yesterday in First
District Court in Central Islip and held on $10,000 cash bail each. They
could not be interviewed and their families declined comment outside the
courthouse after their arraignments.