An Onondaga County Grand Jury has determined a Syracuse Police Officer acted responsibly when she fired a fatal shot at an armed suspect.
D-A Bill Fitzpatrick says the Father’s day gathering in June heard in that 9-1-1 dispatch started out fine and then a dangerous scene unfolded as a gang related incident. Officer Kelsey Francemone was the first to respond to a shots fired call. Fitzpatrick showed a surveillance video from Stone Court Apartments leading up to the moment a crowd piled on top of her.
A minute and 22 seconds passed… and the Officer was still heard struggling by herself while attempting to communicate with dispatchers.
In the chaos, The D-A says ballistics testing found shell casings from four to five guns, which fired at least 30 rounds of ammunition at the scene. Fitzpatrick says seven of those rounds belonged to Officer Francemone. One bullet was determined to fatally strike Gary Porter, who witnesses say was armed.
“This was a tragic incident. It is tragic that Mr. Porter is dead. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen, in 40 years of law enforcement, a police officer act more bravely and more valiantly than did officer Francemone. I completely concur with the grand jury’s decision that what she did was justified under New York law.”
The video has been public for several days; Fitzpatrick can’t understand why more witnesses won’t come forward.
“And you’re going to tolerate this?” Fitzpatrick would say to the area’s residents. “You’re going to let this happen, and not rush to a phone and tell what you know? I think we have some work to do.”
Anyone with additional information about the Father’s Day incidents are asked to call Syracuse Police at 442-52-22.
