Danroy Henry: University Mourns Football Player Gunned Down by Police

Danroy Henry, a junior at Pace University's Pleasantville, N.Y., campus is being mourned by his classmates after he was fatally gunned down by police on Sunday morning. The college football player was struck by a haze of gunfire, after police responded to a disturbance report at a nearby bar, which did not involve the young man, who was reportedly an exemplary student.

A group of people were loitering in front of Finnegan's Grill around 1 a.m. Police were summoned after the crowd became unruly and a disturbance broke out at the watering hole's parking lot.

When law enforcement arrived, they attempted to break up a fight. Officers then noticed a vehicle parked in the fire lane. When one policeman approached the vehicle and tapped on the window, the driver allegedly sped off, vaulting the officer onto the car's hood. Another policeman attempted to pull his colleague off the hood of the car but he, too, was struck and fell to the ground. The officer who was on the hood opened fire on the driver, who continued to direct his vehicle toward yet another law enforcement official, who had also begun firing at the suspect.

Danroy Henry, 20, who was a business major, was pronounced dead at a nearby Westchester hospital. There were two other passengers in Henry's vehicle: Brandon Cox, 20, suffered a minor gunshot wound, and Desmond Hinds, a 21-year-old receiver for the Pace team, was unhurt.

Hind's father said that the boys had not come from the bar but were just outside waiting for a friend when the 50-plus law enforcement melee occurred. Now witnesses are questioning why police were so quick to pull the trigger.

Henry's father, Danroy Henry Sr., told CNN affiliate WCVB-TV in Boston that he doubted the police's version of the events that occurred:

"We are beside ourselves. His coach called him today a man of high moral character."

Mount Pleasant Chief Louis Alagno said Monday that never in the history of both the Mount Pleasant or Pleasantville police departments had anyone ever been killed by any of their law enforcement personnel.

Meanwhile, student organizations at Pace University carried lights from the school's fitness center to its football field Sunday night in memory of Danroy Henry.