I remember the Bell killing. If I'm not wrong, police rationalized converging on Bell because he was overheard allegedly claiming he was going home to "get my gat". That's right. 23 year-old Bell was somehow caught in a Dashiell Hammet novel. "Gat"? Seriously?

I didn't know one officer actually reloaded & continued firing. That's insane. Anyone, out in the streets, or even in his home, is armed, per police. If it's not the car-as-deadly-weapon, it's the officer's own weapon about to wrested away & used against him.

Recall the killing of Patrick Dorismond, six years prior? An undercover gets in his face demanding to know where to buy mj. A scuffle ensues. Cops claim Dorismond tried to grab his weapon & it went off. Single shot. Fatal. Then Giuliani releases Dorismond's sealed juvenile record in order to demonstrate that Dorismond was "no alter boy", as though that was in the slightest degree relevant. But, as it happened, Dorismond had indeed been an alter boy. At the same school Guiliani attended!

Good article. I'm glad you brought Bell's back to the fore.