NYPD cop acquitted in traffic dispute shooting

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - A jury in Brooklyn returned a not guilty verdict in the trial of an NYPD officer who shot and killed a man while he was off-duty.

Police said that in July 2016 Delrawn Small and Police Officer Wayne Isaacs, who had recently ended his police shirt, were both driving cars through East New York when they got into a road dispute that lasted several blocks. When they stopped at a light, Small got out and approached the cop's car.  

Isaacs claimed Small struck him through the driver-side window of his car so he fired a pistol in self-defense.

But a short, grainy video that surfaced on the internet of the encounter appeared to show Small approaching Isaacs' car and almost immediately falling back and collapsing. Small's family said the video proved Small didn't hit Isaacs.

"What Wayne Isaacs did that night—immediately shooting and killing our brother as he approached his car and leaving him to bleed out and die, when he had so many other options—was murder, in cold blood," Small's family said in a statement. "It is dangerous that once again a police officer is being treated as if they are above the law."

PBA president Patrick Lynch said in a statement that the union was grateful to the jury for its "proper and just verdict."

"No police officer wants to carry the burden of having killed a person under any conditions," Lynch said. "But unfortunately, there is no script for police officers who have to take action when they are presented with dangerous circumstances either on or off duty."

State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, whose officer prosecuted the case, said he was "disappointed" but thanked jurors for their service.

"I also want to thank the family of Delrawn Small for their courage and perseverance in the face of tragedy," Schneiderman said. "My office will continue to investigate these cases without fear or favor and follow the facts wherever they may lead."