CRIME BLOTTER

GUNNED GROOM

By Christine Werthman

Sean Bell’s bride-to-be might have received something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue on her wedding day, but the groom got a different sort of pre-congratulatory gift: an estimated 50-bullet shower from five members of the NYPD that left him dead and two of his friends hospitalized. The plainclothes officers shot at Bell, 23, Joseph Guzman, 31, and Trent Benefield, 23, Saturday around 4 a.m. outside of the Kalua Cabaret strip club in Jamaica, Queens, where Bell had been celebrating his bachelor party. Accounts of the events leading up to the shooting vary, but according to reports, the officers thought Guzman was armed, and when one of the officers approached Bell’s car, identified himself as a police officer—a step Benefield denies ever happened—and ordered the three men in the car to show their hands, Bell, the driver, allegedly gunned the car forward, striking the officer and an unmarked NYPD minivan. Police officers then opened fire. Bell subsequently died at the hospital. Nicole Paultre, 22, and Bell had dated in high school and have two daughters together. The officers involved in the shootout turned in their weapons and were placed on leave. Outraged community members held vigils on Sunday, led by Rev. Al Sharpton. The investigation into the shooting is ongoing, but as for the mystery gun Guzman allegedly had that cops claim started the whole mess: No firearms were found in Bell’s car.

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