By Forum Staff
State Attorney General Tish James’ Office of Special Investigations on Thursday released its report on the death of Gary Worthy, who died on Nov. 19, 2024 following an encounter with members of the NYPD in Queens. After a thorough investigation, OSI concluded that a prosecutor would not be able to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt at trial that the officer’s actions were justified under New York law.
Shortly before 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 19, NYPD officers responded to multiple 911 calls reporting a robbery with a gun at a smoke shop on Guy R. Brewer Boulevard in Queens. When officers arrived near the scene at 160th Street and Jamaica Avenue, one of the 911 callers approached the officers’ police car, pointed toward Worthy, and identified him as the alleged robber. One officer got out of the car in an attempt to pursue Worthy on foot, and Worthy started to run down the sidewalk along Jamaica Avenue. As they ran, Worthy turned and fired a gun, striking the chasing officer in the leg. The bullet went through the officer’s leg and struck a bystander in the leg. The chasing officer discharged his firearm in response, striking Worthy. Worthy was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The officer and the bystander were treated for their injuries. Officers recovered a gun at the scene.
Under New York’s justification law, a police officer may use deadly physical force when the officer reasonably believes it to be necessary to defend against the use of deadly physical force by another. In this case, as officers attempted to apprehend Worthy, he fired a gun, striking one officer and a bystander. Under these circumstances, given the law and the evidence, a prosecutor would not be able to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt at trial that the officer’s use of deadly physical force against Worthy was justified, and therefore OSI determined that criminal charges would not be pursued in this matter.
Photo Courtesy of AG James
Two Crime Scene Unit photos of Worthy’s revolver.
In this case, officers did not render aid to Worthy during the five minutes he lay on the ground waiting for the ambulance to arrive. While OSI acknowledges that medical attention outside of a hospital setting would not have saved Worthy’s life, OSI recommends that NYPD – and all police agencies – emphasize in training that officers must aid any person injured by police use of force, even if the person who needs aid has injured a police officer. Currently, NYPD’s training and policies require that when an officer uses force, officers must “obtain medical attention for any person injured as soon as reasonably possible,” and officers must “render reasonable aid to injured person(s) and/or request an ambulance or doctor to the location as necessary.”
