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NEW YORK (AP) -- A grand jury Friday indicted at least three of the five police officers whose 50-shot barrage killed an unarmed man on his wedding day, lawyers for the officers said.
It was not immediately disclosed if the other officers were also charged.
Attorneys for officers Marc Cooper, Gerscard Isnora and Michael Oliver said their clients had been indicted, but they did not know what offenses the officers had been charged with.
The three officers fired the most shots -- Cooper four, Isnora 11, and Oliver 31 -- in the confrontation that killed 23-year-old Sean Bell and wounded two of his friends.
Isnora, 28, was "very upset," attorney Philip Karasyk said. "But he is confident that once he has his day in court he will be vindicated."
Attorney Paul Martin said his client, Cooper, has been asked to surrender Monday.
The Rev. Al Sharpton said the charges marked an important first step in the fight for justice in the case.
"Since November 25th, we have battled together," Sharpton said. "Today is a major step in that battle. Whether it will be a step forward, time will tell. But one thing that we can say, if you stay together and you fight, you can do what is necessary to protect children."
News of the decision came after three days of deliberations that included the emergence of a last-minute witness who testified Thursday.
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown scheduled an announcement for Monday.
Anticipation has been running high around New York City about the grand jury's decision. Extra police officers were put on standby and the mayor met with black leaders in the Queens neighborhood where the shooting occurred in hopes of defusing any tensions that might arise from the decision.
A 23-person grand jury is hearing the case, and 12 grand jurors needed to vote for an indictment for charges to be brought. The panel includes eight blacks, seven whites, and a mix of Hispanics and Asians.
"Whatever the grand jury says ... I think you will see the people of this city behaving in an exemplary manner," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday. "They can be disappointed, they can express themselves -- that's freedom of speech, I don't have a problem with that. But nobody is going to go out and make our streets unsafe."
The case took a strange twist Thursday when a last-minute witness emerged and testified before the grand jury, which is deciding whether to issue charges in the deadly shooting of Bell on his wedding day. Two of his friends were wounded.
Grand jurors had been instructed to consider several charges: second-degree murder, manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide stemming from Bell's death; and attempted murder, assault or reckless endangerment in the wounding of survivors Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman.
The shooting that killed Bell stirred outrage around New York City and led to accusations of racism against police. Bell was black, as are two of his friends who were wounded in the shooting. Two of the officers are white, and three are black.
It was not immediately disclosed if the other officers were also charged.
Attorneys for officers Marc Cooper, Gerscard Isnora and Michael Oliver said their clients had been indicted, but they did not know what offenses the officers had been charged with.
The three officers fired the most shots -- Cooper four, Isnora 11, and Oliver 31 -- in the confrontation that killed 23-year-old Sean Bell and wounded two of his friends.
Isnora, 28, was "very upset," attorney Philip Karasyk said. "But he is confident that once he has his day in court he will be vindicated."
Attorney Paul Martin said his client, Cooper, has been asked to surrender Monday.
The Rev. Al Sharpton said the charges marked an important first step in the fight for justice in the case.
"Since November 25th, we have battled together," Sharpton said. "Today is a major step in that battle. Whether it will be a step forward, time will tell. But one thing that we can say, if you stay together and you fight, you can do what is necessary to protect children."
News of the decision came after three days of deliberations that included the emergence of a last-minute witness who testified Thursday.
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown scheduled an announcement for Monday.
Anticipation has been running high around New York City about the grand jury's decision. Extra police officers were put on standby and the mayor met with black leaders in the Queens neighborhood where the shooting occurred in hopes of defusing any tensions that might arise from the decision.
A 23-person grand jury is hearing the case, and 12 grand jurors needed to vote for an indictment for charges to be brought. The panel includes eight blacks, seven whites, and a mix of Hispanics and Asians.
"Whatever the grand jury says ... I think you will see the people of this city behaving in an exemplary manner," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday. "They can be disappointed, they can express themselves -- that's freedom of speech, I don't have a problem with that. But nobody is going to go out and make our streets unsafe."
The case took a strange twist Thursday when a last-minute witness emerged and testified before the grand jury, which is deciding whether to issue charges in the deadly shooting of Bell on his wedding day. Two of his friends were wounded.
Grand jurors had been instructed to consider several charges: second-degree murder, manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide stemming from Bell's death; and attempted murder, assault or reckless endangerment in the wounding of survivors Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman.
The shooting that killed Bell stirred outrage around New York City and led to accusations of racism against police. Bell was black, as are two of his friends who were wounded in the shooting. Two of the officers are white, and three are black.
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