Attorney General Letitia James's office in 2015 was granted investigatory powers via executive order to probe police shootings of unarmed civilians.
Officer Errick Allen appears to have fired a shot during a dispute on Langdon Road in Farmingdale just after 8 p.m. Tuesday.
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Detectives were told he was attempting to break up a fight between friends when he became involved in a struggle, and shots were fired.
"I can tell you he was an NYPD officer that discharged his firearm," Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said. "As a result of that discharge, an individual was struck in the head and killed. And it's an ongoing and very early part of that investigation."
Authorities say the shot man did not appear to have be armed with a gun, although the investigation continues.
Allen went to his father's house following the shooting, and then notified police.
He is being questioned, and no charges were immediately filed.
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Allen is a rookie who recently graduated from the Police Academy. He had been assigned to the 109th Precinct in Queens.
The victim's identity and further details of the incident have not yet been released, but his family tells Eyewitness News they are shocked.
"We didn't believe it, and it just makes no sense," said a woman who identified herself as the victim's stepmother. "So when they told us who it was, it made even less sense to us. It just, we don't understand it...I don't understand anything. I don't know. And the more I hear, and I read in the newspaper about the gunshots and the locations of the gunshots, it's horrendous. It's not a self-defense. It's like an execution."
Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said the suspect and victim were childhood friends and grew up together.
"They lived near each other in Farmingdale," he said. "I will tell you they were friendly, they did know each other. They somehow got into a disagreement last night, and that's when the weapon was produced."
The NYPD has suspended Allen without pay for 30 days.
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