Unarmed Man Fatally Shot by N.Y. Undercover Detective

An unarmed man was shot dead early Thursday by an undercover detective during a fight on a busy Manhattan street, officials said.

Patrick Dorismond, a security guard, was shot by Det. Anthony Vasquez as the officer and two others attempted a “buy-and-bust” drug operation near Penn Station and Madison Square Garden, Police Commissioner Howard Safir said at a news conference.

One of the officers, all of who are Latino, approached Dorismond, who was black, and another man in front of a bar, Safir said.

“He engaged them in a conversation relative to drugs,” Safir said.

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who also attended the news conference, said Vasquez, 29, then came to the aid of the officer and his gun discharged.

Dorismond, 25, was hit in the chest and died at a hospital. No drugs or other contraband were found on his body.

Safir said police were still investigating how the gun went off. Police could not confirm witness reports that Vasquez was hitting Dorismond with his service revolver when it went off.

The Dorismond shooting comes just two weeks after another undercover officer fatally shot an unarmed man in the Bronx near where unarmed immigrant Amadou Diallo was shot and killed last year by four white police officers.

The officers in the Diallo case were acquitted, sparking outrage among residents.