www.nytimes.com/2004/09/17/nyregion/17shot.htmlOfficer Was Putting Gun Away When Fatal Shot Was Fired
By MICHAEL WILSON
Published: September 17, 2004
An off-duty police officer was putting away his service pistol on Wednesday night when it discharged and killed one of his closest friends, the police said yesterday.
The officer, Javier V. Colon, 25, of Canarsie, Brooklyn, was placed on a modified assignment pending an investigation. A police official said it appeared that the shooting was an accident caused by Officer Colon's not properly safeguarding the weapon. The official did not elaborate.
George Perez, 25, of West New York, N.J., was shot in the face and killed, the police said.
The shooting happened at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday at a house in the Dyker Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn where a friend of Officer Colon lives. Officer Colon, Mr. Perez and an unidentified man who lives at the home on 81st Street had returned from a night out in Manhattan, the police said. They had not been drinking, but had brought beer back to the house, where an unidentified woman who also lives there was home, the police said.
Minutes after walking through the door, Officer Colon removed his side arm, a 9-millimeter Smith & Wesson, and was storing it in a bureau in his friend's kitchen when it discharged, the police said. Mr. Perez was in a bathroom next to the kitchen when he was shot, the police said.
Officer Colon applied first aid, while the other man and the woman in the house called 911, the police said. At some point, Officer Colon ran out of the house shouting, "I shot my best friend!" the police said.
Officer Colon joined the Police Department about a year ago and worked in the 75th Precinct.
In Canarsie, Officer Colon was known for having a friendly manner, said one man who knew him. "He's real polite,'' said the man, who wanted to be identified only by his first name, Roger, and who said he was 20. "He's cool. He's real friendly. If I see him, he's always asking how are you doing and how was your day.''
Mr. Perez had been married for about one year, said a woman who lives near Mr. Perez in New Jersey and declined to give her name. "He was just a good, hard-working person," the woman said. "They were a very, very loving couple."