NYPD Fires Officer Accused of Off-Duty Shooting, Planting Evidence to Cover It Up

The NYPD fired Sgt. Ritchard Blake after being investigation for an alleged off-duty shooting of an unarmed black man in Brooklyn and planting evidence in an attempt to cover it up. Surveillance video of the August 2 incident shows Blake, 40, firing a gun at Thavone Santana, 21, who was hospitalized and in expected to survive. According to the video, he places something, which law enforcement officers said was a knife, beside Santana, then apparently picked up back up. Neighbors said the men were yelling at each other outside the home of a female friend of Blake’s. Santana reportedly shouted “Control your bitch” at one point during the confrontation. Before he was fired, Blake’s badge and gun were confiscated. Police Commissioner James O'Neill has called the incident, "extremely disturbing, local TV station WPIX reported. "I think everybody that has seen that video was outraged, he said.