NYDailyNews.com--The Rev. Al Sharpton swooped into the middle of another controversial Brooklyn shooting Thursday that pits the grieving family of a beloved mom against the NYPD.
Denise Gay was killed on her stoop by a stray shot as cops were locked in a raging gun battle with an ex-con - and her family believes she was felled by a police bullet.
"I need Al Sharpton down here," Tashmaya Gay said. "I asked him to help and we have an appointment to meet with him."
Sharpton has been in touch with Gay's brother, Les Gay Jr., and will meet with the family soon, the reverend's spokeswoman said.
"He absolutely intends to get involved with this," Rachel Noerdlinger said.
The Gay family's appeal to Sharpton came a day after the NYPD said the shot that killed the 56-year-old Crown Heights woman on Monday night did not come from the 9-mm. Ruger wielded by her neighbor, Leroy Webster.
Webster got into a shootout with cops shortly after he killed another man, 29-year-old Eusi Johnson, police said.
The 9-mm. bullet that hit Gay likely from a semiautomatic Glock - the same type of gun two of the cops were using when they traded shots with Webster, Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said.
But investigators can't tell for sure because that bullet "was deformed" and too damaged to identify, Browne said.
"They fired all the police weapons into a water tank, plus Webster's gun," Browne said. "This produced pristine bullets and casings."
Still, police haven't been able to figure out who fired the shot that killed Gay on the stoop of her Park Place home.
A law enforcement source said 3D technology can often make ballistic matches in cases with damaged bullets. The NYPD doesn't use that technology, the source said.
Webster, 32, has not been charged with a crime and remains hospitalized with two bullet wounds.
Kirsten John Foy, an aide to Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, called for "a full, thorough investigation of this matter."
"An innocent woman lost her life, possibly at the hands of an officer," said Foy, who noted officers fired 73 shots as they battled Gay's gun-toting neighbor. "How do you justify 70-plus shots? Scores of shots that went astray in a residential neighborhood."
Foy has his own beef with the NYPD after he and City Councilman Jumaane Williams were detained Monday by cops who allegedly ignored their official IDs in a frozen zone at the West Indian Day Parade.
Police are also investigating whether the shot that killed Gay was fired by Johnson. Two witnesses told them he too was armed, but cops haven't found that gun, Browne said.
A source who has seen surveillance footage of Johnson said he wasn't packing heat.
"I can tell you I'm 100% sure that Johnson was not holding a gun," the source told the Daily News. "The footage clearly shows both hands. There is no gun."
There was also a .380 caliber bullet of unknown origin was found in the vestibule of Gay's home, cops said.
The News has interviewed several other witnesses since the shooting. None recalled seeing Johnson with a gun.
A witness who lives across the street from Webster said Gay was directly in the line of police fire.
"Those are the only shots that could have hit her," Lars Russell said Thursday.
Police said the gunfight erupted after eight officers responding to Johnson's slaying confronted Webster outside his home. Instead of surrendering, Webster fired several shots, wounding two cops.
Posted By: Siebra Muhammad
Friday, September 9th 2011 at 1:01PM
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