Police shoot groom on wedding day

Police shot three young men who had just left a bachelor party at a strip club early today, killing one man on the day of his wedding, according to police and witnesses.

One of the survivors was in critical condition.

The shooting happened just after 4am (9am Irish time) near Club Kalua in the Queens borough, said Officer Kathleen Price. She said there were no reports that any officers were wounded.

It was not immediately clear what sparked the shooting. As many as eight officers may have been involved, said Sergeant Mike Wysokowski, another department spokesman.

“All I know, they was celebrating,” said Denise Ford, who said her son was one of the survivors. She said the man who died was the groom. “The guy was getting married today.”

Relatives said the dead man was Sean Bell, 23.

Robert Porter, who identified himself as Bell’s first cousin, said he was supposed to be a DJ at the wedding.

“I still don’t want to believe it, a beautiful day like this, and he was going to have a beautiful wedding, he was going to live forever with his wife and children. And this happened,” Porter said.

The rev Al Sharpton said family members told him that there were no guns in the young men’s car and “there was no reason for the police to shoot".

“On the face of it, it seems to me to be certainly something that causes extreme alarm and must be thoroughly investigated,” said Sharpton, who said he was called by a relative of the man who died.

The three men ranged in age from 23 to 31 years old.