Updated 11/22/2009 05:24 PM
Police Shoot, Kill Armed Teen In Queens
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Police shot and killed a Queens teenager Saturday night who they say refused to drop his weapon during a chase in Far Rockaway.
Police say the incident began when four plainclothes officers saw three men exiting Bays Water Park after-hours near Beach 32nd Street and Beach Channel Drive.
Police say one of the men, Dashawn Vasconcellos, 18, ran away as police approached him for questioning.
During the chase, police say Vasconcellos turned and pointed a 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol, pictured right, at the officers and refused to drop the weapon.
Neighbors at the scene of the shooting say they are in disbelief.
"Dashawn is not that type of kid. He's not waving no guns at police -- who's that stupid?" said one neighbor.
“I got scared,” said Vasconcellos’ cousin, Kiaan Richards, who lives across the street from where the shooting took place. “I thought it was someone else. I saw the sheet. I didn’t know what was going on.”
After repeated attempts to get Vasconcellos to drop the gun, police say they fired, hitting Vasconcellos in the torso and legs, killing him.
The other two men in question were not arrested.
Many residents of the Rockaways told NY1 that they think gang violence and shootings are all too common in the neighborhood, and police cannot take any chances.
"I think police are helping us,” said a local. “If they don't, who will?"
Police are still investigating the incident.