NEW YORK (AP) — New York City police apologized for mistakenly accusing a teenager of a fatal shooting at a Brooklyn parade, then failing to retract the false allegation for nearly five months, despite knowing it was incorrect.
In a statement sent to news outlets Sunday, the NYPD said an image it circulated on social media of Camden Lee, a 15-year-old Brooklyn resident, “mistakenly stated that he was wanted for the fatal shooting†at the West Indian American Day Parade in September.
“The NYPD should have immediately corrected this misstatement,†added the department’s new chief spokesperson, Delaney Kempner. “We apologize for the error and will continue to seek justice for the victims of this shooting.â€
The apology followed reporting by The Associated Press on the NYPD’s which spurred death threats against the teenager and questions about the department's policies for correcting misinformation.
Even after police quietly deleted their online accusations and privately conceded that Lee was not a suspect in the killing, the NYPD had refused to walk back the allegation, ignoring desperate pleas from Lee's family.
In its updated statement, the police department said Lee was a “person of interest†in the shooting, which remains unsolved, since he was “on the scene before, during, and after the incident.â€
They did not elaborate on why Lee was identified among thousands of others at or near the crowded scene or why the mistake was not fixed earlier.
“Even in their apology, they’re painting him with a brush of culpability to cover their mistake,†said Wylie Stecklow, an attorney for Lee’s family. “They’re downplaying what they did and not owning up to the fact that they put him in harm’s way.â€
Lee’s mother, Chee Chee Brock, described the statement as a “superficial apology†and questioned why it was not released earlier. She said the family had not heard directly from anyone in the police department about the mistake.
“This could’ve been done in September after we had the meeting," Brock said. “They don't understand the damage that it caused.â€
The apology, a rare admission of fault by the NYPD, comes as the new police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, has vowed to restore trust in a department rocked by . Last month, the NYPD agreed to after an independent monitor highlighted unprofessional posts by some executives and other online misrepresentations.
Lee, a high school sophomore, said he had attended the Labor Day celebration after leaving football practice with a teammate. Minutes after they arrived, , killing 25-year-old Denzel Chan and wounding four others, including Lee’s teammate.
Nearly three weeks after the shooting, police shared a photograph of Lee on X and Instagram accusing him of homicide. They widely circulated the image to news outlets, which continued repeating the false allegation long after police had privately acknowledged it was untrue.
According to an attorney for the family, Lee met with homicide detectives days after the initial social media posts and was told he was not a suspect in the killing, but was being sought for questioning about what he had witnessed.
In the five months since the initial allegation, Lee has received numerous death threats that have pushed his family into hiding, forcing him to leave the city and miss school for weeks at a time.
“It takes me to a dark place,†Lee told the AP. “I don’t feel like myself anymore. I don’t have the opportunity to explain my side of the story. Everyone is so fixed on this one image of me: murderer.â€
