A difficult case but still a death of a sex offender, during the commission of a new crime in the parole office. This man had a history of mental troubles and this seems to fit suicide by cop, especially since it took place inside a parole office.4-1-2009 New York:
A paroled rapist who was once accused of shooting a cop was gunned down Tuesday after a violent confrontation inside a crowded Queens parole office, officials said.
Eric Reid, 50, refused to hand over the knife he brought into the Jamaica office and briefly took a female officer hostage before he was felled by several shots from parole officers, officials said.
"He grabbed her by the shirt," said a parolee who witnessed the tense standoff and gave his name as Anthony.
"He was holding her by the arm," Anthony said. "Everyone was running, trying to take cover."
Reid - a registered sex offender released from prison in December after serving 19 years for rape and burglary - arrived at the Merrick Blvd. office at 9:30a.m. and balked when an officer asked to search his backpack, officials said.
Witnesses told police Reid removed a steak knife from the bag and tried to hide it from the female officer. When the officer tried to take it from him, the ex-con grabbed the woman and threatened her with the blade, police sources said.
A pair of NYPD cops and several parole officers inside the lobby of the two-story office yelled at Reid to drop the knife, but the ex-con refused, sources said.
"They yelled, 'Let her go! Let her go!'" Anthony said.
Two parole officers opened fire, striking Reid in the head and chest, killing him, police sources said. His hostage was uninjured.
The parole officers who opened fire were identified as Delree Williams, a 10-year veteran of the Division of Parole, and Barry Davis, an 18-year veteran.
In addition to the decades he spent behind bars for a 1988 rape in upstate Schenectady, Reid was jailed two other times on burglary convictions, records show.
Reid also was arrested for shooting a cop in the gut in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, in 1978. He was deemed unfit to stand trial and later escaped from a mental institution. ..News Source.. by Joe Kemp, Alison Gendar and Jonathan Lemire, DAILY NEWS WRITERS
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