Mark Tyson
Member
Promoting a Hero;
Cop who shot Askew now a detective
Copyright 2003 Newsday, Inc.
Newsday (New York)
July 25, 2003 Friday QUEENS EDITION
The mayor yesterday heralded the cop who gunned down Councilman James Davis' killer as a hero, while firearms experts praised him for doing an exceptional job under chaotic circumstances.
"What is most incredible about this is how he was able to hit the assassin ... from such a distance in the midst of so much confusion," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said of nine-year veteran Officer Richard Burt, 34, of St. Albans, as he announced Burt's promotion to detective.
"Everybody that was in City Hall at the time yesterday will for the rest of their lives be grateful to Officer Burt that he put his life at risk to save them all," Bloomberg said.
Burt, on assignment at City Hall as part of Council Speaker Gifford Miller's security detail, was on the floor of the council chamber when gunman Othniel Askew fired at Davis in the balcony. Burt drew his service pistol and fired six shots at Askew, who was about 40 feet away, hitting the gunman four times. The other two rounds were found in the chamber ceiling.
"It's an amazing feat," said Tim Horner, senior director at the Manhattan-based Kroll security and investigation firm and a retired NYPD captain in the intelligence division. "It is very difficult to keep your wits about you in the middle of the shooting."
Horner said the chances of hitting a target at close range (considered about 15 feet) is normally one out of six.
"A 40-foot shot under those circumstances with that kind of hit rate - he did an extraordinary job," said Derrick Bartlett, director of Snipercraft, a Fort Lauderdale-based nonprofit group that provides training and information for military and law enforcement sniper teams. "It makes it much more difficult because there's all sorts of activity going on around him," Bartlett said, referring to the civilians in the council chamber as well as the likelihood that Burt's stress level would have been elevated in that situation.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, who said Burt showed "tremendous shooting," explained that the officer received only standard weapons training and had not won any firearms awards.
"I don't consider myself a hero," Burt said. "I just did my job."
Cop who shot Askew now a detective
Copyright 2003 Newsday, Inc.
Newsday (New York)
July 25, 2003 Friday QUEENS EDITION
The mayor yesterday heralded the cop who gunned down Councilman James Davis' killer as a hero, while firearms experts praised him for doing an exceptional job under chaotic circumstances.
"What is most incredible about this is how he was able to hit the assassin ... from such a distance in the midst of so much confusion," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said of nine-year veteran Officer Richard Burt, 34, of St. Albans, as he announced Burt's promotion to detective.
"Everybody that was in City Hall at the time yesterday will for the rest of their lives be grateful to Officer Burt that he put his life at risk to save them all," Bloomberg said.
Burt, on assignment at City Hall as part of Council Speaker Gifford Miller's security detail, was on the floor of the council chamber when gunman Othniel Askew fired at Davis in the balcony. Burt drew his service pistol and fired six shots at Askew, who was about 40 feet away, hitting the gunman four times. The other two rounds were found in the chamber ceiling.
"It's an amazing feat," said Tim Horner, senior director at the Manhattan-based Kroll security and investigation firm and a retired NYPD captain in the intelligence division. "It is very difficult to keep your wits about you in the middle of the shooting."
Horner said the chances of hitting a target at close range (considered about 15 feet) is normally one out of six.
"A 40-foot shot under those circumstances with that kind of hit rate - he did an extraordinary job," said Derrick Bartlett, director of Snipercraft, a Fort Lauderdale-based nonprofit group that provides training and information for military and law enforcement sniper teams. "It makes it much more difficult because there's all sorts of activity going on around him," Bartlett said, referring to the civilians in the council chamber as well as the likelihood that Burt's stress level would have been elevated in that situation.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, who said Burt showed "tremendous shooting," explained that the officer received only standard weapons training and had not won any firearms awards.
"I don't consider myself a hero," Burt said. "I just did my job."
