Location Geneva, New York | Deaths William Corey Jackson | |
Date May 20, 2011 (2011-05-20) Accused Carmen Reale (Geneva City Police Department) | ||
William "Corey" Jackson, an African-American man aged 34, was shot by a police officer in Geneva, New York in May 2011.
Contents
The incident
On May 20, 2011, police were making a planned traffic stop. An officer, Carmen Reale, decided to ask the passengers to get out of the vehicle. He saw William Corey Jackson in the backseat. Jackson had been wanted in connection with an alleged robbery that morning. Jackson did not get out when the other two did. Carmen Reale shot through the window, shooting Jackson in the head. He died on May 22 at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York.
Geneva Police Chief Frank Pane stated that the sergeant who shot Jackson feared he was armed and possibly reaching for a gun. Police did not find a gun, but they did find two cell phones and a knife.
Aftermath
After the killing of Jackson, the civil rights organization NAACP stated that many African Americans and others had contacted it voicing concerns about police harassment in the city. NAACP and family members then hired an independent lawyer to investigate.
An Ontario County Grand Jury found in July that the police officer's action was justified under the law, and accepted that Officer Reale was afraid and misjudged a cell phone as a gun.
Officer Reale was put on administrative leave, and in January 2014, he officially retired from the Geneva Police Department.