Police Officer’s Faulty Gun Holster to Blame for Death?

A man who worked in a bodega in Brooklyn was fatally shot by an ex-con who grabbed a NYPD officer’s gun out of its holster. The family of the dead man is seeking $20 million from the city. Their claim is that the polie officer’s holster was faulty, which is to blame for his death.

Wali Camara, a 49-year-old immigrant from Mali, worked at N&A Foods, a bodega (Spanish-speaking market). Efrain Guzman, 30, grabbed the gun from the holster and a shoot-out followed. Camara was trying to kick Guzman out of the bodega for bothering customers and trying to sell them phone chargers, the reports say.

Guzman left and went across the street. Camara followed, which was probably a mistake. The two got into a fight, and Guzman was apparently able to grab one of the responding officer’s guns from its holster and shoot Camara. Guzman was then fatally shot by the police himself.

Camara’s family is suing the city for negligence because they claim that Guzman should have been immediately handcuffed. They also say the officer’s holster was of an outdated type that he shouldn’t have been using at the time. They are also saying taht the officer must not have been properly trained, because a well=trained officer would not have allowed a suspect to be able to take his gun.

The police department has upgraded its holsters to a type that is more difficult for the gun to be grabbed out of in a case like this. The department began switching out its holsters, from the old type, Safariland 2955, which had only one snap to hold the gun in place, to the Safariland 6360, which has two snaps and requires two moves to get the gun out. However, only new officers received the upgraded holster. After this incident, the department announced that it would replace all of the old-style holsters.

What do you think? Not sure the family has a claim, but there are details that make both sides look bad.

Image of Efrain Guzman from www.dnainfo.com.