NYPD Claim 'Startled' Officer Shot & Killed Latino Man by Mistake - Unclear whether gun went off during or after collision

From [HERE] and [HERE] A Bronx, N.Y., Latino bodega worker was shot and killed by police responding to a standoff with armed robbers inside the store early Friday morning, according to a law enforcement source and witness accounts. Police say three men entered the bodega and barricaded themselves inside when cops arrived.

20-year-old Reynaldo Cuevas and the bodega's manager were being held at gunpoint by the masked gunmen inside Aneurys Deli Grocery on Franklin Avenue in Morrisania.

A customer who became aware that a robbery was in progress phoned the police, and four officers were dispatched to the scene. Once they arrived, two of the three men, Orlando Ramos and Ernesto Delgado, ran into the store's backroom, leaving their accomplice, Christopher Dorsey, unarmed and alone. Seizing an opportunity to run, Cuevas and the manager took off towards the door, but, on his way out, Cuevas, who had his head down, reportedly stumbled into an officer who had his gun drawn and was subsequently shot.

The victim's cousin Jose Garcia said he witnessed the scene and that Cuevas, a nephew of the store's owner, did not have his hands raised as he left the store and cops opened fire on him.

"I saw the police shoot him," Garcia told NBC 4 New York. "He came up, but he didn't put his hands up. And he tripped or something and when he fell on the floor, they shot him."

In the surveillance video, an officer is seen near the entrance of the store, taking his gun out of its holster when Mr. Mora, store manager, emerges with his hands pointed toward the store. The officer appears to point his pistol at Mr. Mora, then steps back. "The night manager was able to convey quickly that he had been held up at gunpoint," Mr. Kelly said.

Moments later, Mr. Cuevas is seen on the video running out, immediately colliding with the officer who appears startled. Mr. Cuevas lands on the pavement on his back with the officer, who wasn't identified by police, on top of him. [MORE]  A pool of blood appears to form on the ground the instant Cuevas lands on his back. The officer is kneeling and pointing his semiautomatic at Cuevas when the video clip ends.

Investigators believe the impact of Cuevas running into the officer caused him to fire one round, striking the 20-year-old victim in the left shoulder, police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said at a news conference. Cuevas died later at a hospital. [MORE] 

A law enforcement source did confirm that Cuevas may have been mistakenly shot by police officers responding to the chaotic scene.

"Basically he was trying to get away from the robber and he was shot, " said Arjelis Duval, who also witnessed the shooting.

Three people are in custody. Drugs and a gun were recovered from the scene, the police source said.

 Maria Acevado, a friend of Cuevas', said she remembered his great sense of humor.

"He was funny," she said. " He was nice to us, just hanging with us on the corner."

“He grew up working in a deli,” said Cuevas’ 27-year-old cousin, Jose Garcia.

He was planning to enlist in the military.

At 5-feet-9 and slender, Cuevas was no menacing thug. “How could they shoot him?” Rodriguez asked. “He was just an innocent kid.” [MORE] 

A police officer responding to the robbery was also injured in a car crash with an SUV on Third Avenue and Boston Road -- about a mile away from the bodega.  The crash demolished the NYPD cruiser and the officer had to be extricated from the vehicle. 

The driver of the Range Rover that crashed with cops was treated and released, but the NYPD officer remains hospitalized at Lincoln Hospital in critical but stable condition, police said.

The details surrounding the accident aren't clear, but a woman who identified herself as the wife of the SUV driver is lashing out at police.

"Everybody who was here told me he was at the red light, police were speeding and hit him," she said.