Community leaders protest against deadly police shooting of woman in the Bronx

CASTLE HILL, Bronx (WABC) -- Community leaders marched to the 43rd Precinct Thursday night, protesting the shooting death of a mentally ill woman at the hands of an NYPD sergeant.

Earlier in the day, the New York State Attorney General said his office doesn't have jurisdiction to investigate the fatal police shooting of the 66-year-old woman in the Bronx.

Activists and political leaders had called for Democratic Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to oversee the investigation into Deborah Danner's death. Danner was shot by a police sergeant in her Castle Hill apartment Tuesday night.

Schneiderman's office has the power to investigate fatal police shootings of unarmed people. But authorities say Danner was threatening the sergeant with a bat when he shot her.

Democratic Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark says she intends to conduct a "full, reasoned and independent investigation."

The NYPD says the sergeant had a stun gun but didn't use it. The sergeant, Hugh Barry, has been placed on modified duty.

"I want to make it very clear, the New York City police department has once again failed to properly respond to deal with mentally ill patients without resorting to deadly physical force," said the victim's sister Jennifer Danner.

"Deborah Danner should be alive right now period," said Mayor Bill de Blasio, as the mayor and Police Commissioner James O'Neill swiftly condemned the sergeant's actions.

Sergeants Benevolent Association President Ed Mullins is criticizing the mayor and police commissioner for not waiting for all the answers to come out in a thorough investigation.

"Commissioner O'Neill has opened his mouth too soon and Mayor de Blasio is once again way off base," Mullins said.

A group of more than two dozen protesters marched Wednesday night demanding justice, marching from Danner's apartment in the Bronx and holding signs with Danner's photo. They chanted: "No justice, no peace" and "send those killer cops to jail."

The city's Department of Investigation received a letter from City Council members Thursday, asking for an investigation into NYPD training for crisis intervention. (

The DOI issued a statement in response:

"The Department of Investigation, through its Office of the Inspector General for the New York City Police Department, has been conducting an independent, systemic examination of NYPD's Crisis Intervention Training, how it is conducted by NYPD, and how it is used by police officers. As part of that investigation, DOI's OIG-NYPD will also be reviewing the protocols leading up to Tuesday's fatal shooting of a person in mental crisis in the Bronx."

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)