News: Police Cleared of Charges in Fatal Shooting of 23 Year Old
(Long Island, N.Y.) A Nassau County cop was cleared of criminal charges after an investigation conducted by the Nassau County District Attorney’s office. The investigation was held to take a closer look into the fatal shooting of twenty-three-year-old Kurt Doerbecker at his home in Point Lookout. There is much speculation about the whether Doerbecker was killed after excessive force was used in responding to a situation that occurred last summer, right after the Hurricane Irene fiasco.
What is known about the case is that police came by the dozens to the Doerbecker home after the twenty-three-year-old was implemented in a bar fight and accusations of a home invasion. No one was injured and nothing was reported stolen. Doerbecker was also accused of carrying a small metal object, but it still has not been determined what that object was.
Doerbecker and his family were inside the home and refused to speak to police without having a warrant. While it is mentioned in the twenty-eight-page police report that an option was to return to other duties before a warrant was obtained, police with K-9 units remained outside the perimeter of the home. Doerbecker was five-feet-eight-inches, played baseball, and graduated Long Beach High School with the class of 2006.
After numerous instances of denying the police entry and the opportunity to speak, Doerbecker exited the home via the back window. The Doerbecker backyard is in direct access to the water, making it impossible to run anywhere without being forced to swim. Police were waiting for Doerbecker while stationed outside in the back, anticipating his attempt at an exit through the window.
According to the police report, the lighting was minimal and all of the detectives described the area as very dark. Unable to see in such a closely confined space, it’s possible that Doerbecker was unaware of the exact location of police presence. A Nassau County policeman fired shots, interpreting Doerbecker’s movements as a hostile act.
It was reported that, prior to the shots, police had told Doerbecker to stop and drop his weapon. According to the police report, Doerbecker had been carrying a knife, which was initially documented as a light-reflecting object. The fatal shot that ended the twenty-three-year-old’s life was to the back of the head at roughly one-thirty in the morning; three shots were fired in total from the same weapon.
Despite Doerbecker’s obvious condition, the police report stated that he wasn’t tended to until police secured the house for civilian and officer safety. He wasn’t pronounced dead until a quarter-to-three that morning. According to reports, his parents were physically taken into custody in separate patrol cars and unaware of their son’s passing until five-thirty.
