NYPD Cop Dies, 8 Injured in Van Crash Prior to Climate Change March
Ren Benavidez | | Sep 22, 2014 09:32 AM EDT |
A rookie police from the New York City Police Department died, while eight others were hurt when the van they were riding crashed into a barrier on Sunday.
The 25-year-old cop, Michael Williams, was thrown off the vehicle after the driver lost control of the van while at a sharp curve on Bruckner Expressway and ran it into a barrier.
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Williams was brought to Lincoln Hospital, but was pronounced dead after less than an hour.
In a statement released by Mayor Bill de Blasio, he said he was "heartsick" by the tragedy that killed the officer.
"The notion that this was a guy just starting out, who loved what he was doing as a police officer and had a whole bright future ahead, and he lost it in this tragic accident," de Blasio told reporters during Monday's march for climate change.
Even top NYPD officials were shaken by the incident while at the hospital.
According to police chief Philip Banks III , Wiliams joined the force to follow the footsteps of his father, who has served for 32 years as a New York police officer.
Meanwhile, investigation regarding the incident are currently ongoing.
No other vehicles were involved or affected by the crash.
Among the key points of the investigation were the speed of the vehicle as it approached the sharp turn and whether the officers in the van were wearing seatbelts.
All police officers are required to wear seatbelts, as mandated by a policy from mid 1990 during the time of then police commissioner William J. Bratton, following a series of driving deaths and accidents by officers while on duty.
Several officials speculate that Williams was not wearing his seatbelt during the time of the crash, which was why he was thrown out of the van.
According to the police department, eight other police officers who were also in the van sustained non-fatal injuries in the crash.
The injured officers were brought to St. Barnabas Hospital, Jacobi Medical Center and Lincoln Hospital.
The van was travelling from the 47th Precint to the their assigned post for the climate change demonstration when the accident happened.
TagsSociety, NYPD, police accident, police killed
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