A New York police officer has been stripped of his gun and badge after he shot a mentally ill 66-year-old black woman in her own home in the Bronx.

Police chief James O’Neill said that, “What is clear in this one instance, we failed.” “That’s not how it’s supposed to go. It’s not how we train.”

Sgt Hugh Barry was among officers called to Deborah Danner's New York apartment evening to reports of an "emotionally disturbed person".
He persuaded her to drop a pair of scissors, but shot her twice after she tried to hit him with a baseball bat.

Mayor Bill de Blasio called the shooting “tragic and unacceptable” adding “it should never have happened. It’s as simple as that: it should never have happened.” The mayor also commended the department for moving quickly to reassign the sergeant.

Bronx borough president Ruben Diaz Jr called the incident “all too reminiscent”. “While I certainly understand the hard work our police officers undertake to keep the streets of our city safe every single day, I also know what excessive force looks like,” Diaz said in a statement.

“No person in need of mental health services should end up dying like this,” said Donna Liebman, executive director of the New York ACLU.

“The questions raised by such a disproportionate use of force are especially important in a context where across the country people are asking if law enforcement values enough the lives of people of color.”

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Nandini