Answers still sought in fatal shooting of Pace University student by police officer

<p>Eight years after the fatal police-involved shooting of a Pace University student, a Massachusetts family is still searching for the truth about the moments leading up to his death.&nbsp;</p>

News 12 Staff

Dec 2, 2018, 9:20 PM

Updated 1,974 days ago

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Eight years after the fatal police-involved shooting of a Pace University student, a Massachusetts family is still searching for the truth about the moments leading up to his death.
Danroy “DJ” Henry, 20, was shot by Pleasantville Police Officer Aaron Hess in 2010 outside of a Thornwood bar.
While accounts of what happened vary, police say that when they asked Henry to move his car out of a fire zone, he sped away, hitting officer Hess -- who wound up on the hood and then opened fire into the windshield.
News 12’s Samantha Crawford spoke to the lawyer for the family who says the relationship between the police and the community needs to change.
The family’s attorney, Michael Sussman, says that officer Hess was acquitted of all charges despite another officer testifying Hess was noticeably the aggressor. Some have interpreted surveillance footage to show Henry's car slowing down, just before some say Hess jumped on the vehicle.
"The truth telling process is not an immediate process,” says Sussman. “It takes years, sometimes to reveal the truth about situations -- particularly painful situations where people do have a motive to cover up what happened."
Sussman says the next step must be to build a stronger relationship between police officers and their community so they can feel like they are one unit rather than working against one another.
He says the family will not file any more charges.
News 12 is told that Henry's family was awarded several million dollars to settle the lawsuit.


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