Four New York City police officers were suspended without pay after they were caught on security video seemingly standing by and doing nothing when a man accidently shot himself in the leg in Harlem earlier this week.
The incident took place on August 23 at 136th Street and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan, where a group of men were gambling and drinking in the street.
Surveillance video obtained by the New York Post, among other news outlets, shows two officers on foot patrol leaning against the wall of a building, and two others sitting in a double-parked patrol SUV.
A group of men were drinking and gambling in the street at 136th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem on August 23 in front of four cops on a crime reduction assignment, who have now been suspended without pay
One of the men accidentally shot himself in the leg, prompting others to disperse. Two foot patrol officers could be glimpsed standing against the wall on the left
The victim, Xavier Shaw, 32, is pictured on the far right hopping away from the scene. In the video, none of the officers attempts to render aid
According to officials, all four officers - identified as Joshua Polo, Gifford Griffiths, Mohammed Uddin and Sterling Medina - were on a crime reduction assignment.
A spokesperson for the NYPD confirmed to DailyMail.com that the officers involved have been suspended without pay, but she declined to provide any details concerning the incident.
In the security footage taken from the scene, a gun goes off in the hands of one of the men gambling on the sidewalk, causing the others to disperse in terror.
None of the officers on the scene seems to stir at the sound of the gunshot. They also appear to make no attempt to render aid to the victim, who is seen hopping away on his right foot after tossing away the gun.
As seen in the footage, the officers do not take any actions to secure the weapon lying on the sidewalk, or take anyone in for questioning about the shooting.
Beside the two foot patrol cops standing against the wall, there were two other officers sitting in a double-parked NYPD SUV, seen on the right
One of the patrol cops detached himself from the wall more than 30 seconds after the shooting
The officers have been identified as Joshua Polo, Gifford Griffiths, Mohammed Uddin
More than 30 second go by from the time of the shooting before one of the foot patrol cops languidly detaches himself from the wall to take a brief stroll before rejoining his partner.
A short time later, both cops casually walk across the sidewalk, which still appears to be littered with debris from the interrupted gambling session, and approach their colleagues in the patrol vehicle, at which time the video cuts off.
The four officers on the scene allegedly never radioed in the shooting.
According to unnamed sources talking to the New York Daily News, body camera footage from the officers indicates that they did not immediately realize that the loud noise they heard was a gunshot, and not a firecracker.
The victim of the self-inflicted shooing, 32-year-old Xavier Shaw, went to Harlem Hospital under his own power to be treated for his injuries. Police arrested him on Wednesday on a charge of criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment.
The conduct of the four officers is now the subject of an internal review. Griffith, Uddin, Polo and Medina all have been on the force for less than five years.
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