By M.L. Nestel
The New York Post
NEW YORK — An NYPD cop who accidentally killed a fellow officer spoke about the incident for the first time on the four-year anniversary — and said the pain of that day will never go away.
“I’m trying to get along with my life and hopefully the other side is getting on with their life,” Sgt. Andrew Dunton told The Post last week.
He vividly recalled the night of May 28, 2009. Dunton, who is white, was with fellow anti-crime-unit members when they saw 25-year-old rookie Officer Omar Edwards in plain clothes sprinting after a thief in East Harlem.
Edwards, who was black and worked a housing-project post, did not respond to the officers’ shouts of “Police! Drop it!” — and Dunton fatally shot the cop in his heart, lung and chest.
It was only as Edwards lay dying that they realized they had felled one of their own.
Dunton was at the 17th Precinct Community Council meeting on Tuesday’s anniversary to deliver a slide show on the NYPD’s social-media strategy that targets gang violence.
One community member asked Dunton of his cyber undercover work, “Do you fear for your life?”
“Do I fear for my life? I always fear for my life,” he said. “Everyone should fear for their life. You don’t know what’s going to happen .”
That’s when he recounted the Edwards shooting.
“I hate to talk about this, but today actually marks the four-year anniversary — I was involved in a police-involved shooting which closed one door to my police career,” he said.
“But one door opened and I was allowed to do this, work on this and help affect other people.”
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