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Updated 08/01/2009 04:07 PM

NY1 Exclusive: Mother Of Slain Police Officer Rips Mayor, NYPD

By: NY1 News

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The mother of slain Police Officer Omar Edwards is angrily denouncing Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, saying they haven't done enough in response to the death of her son, who was killed in a "friendly fire" shooting by a fellow officer in East Harlem in May.

Watch The Exclusive Interview

Watch NY1 Political Anchor Dominic Carter's entire exclusive interview with Natalia Harding and the Reverend Al Sharpton.

"I didn't hear neither from the mayor, neither from [Police Commissioner] Kelly. No, I did not,” Edwards's mother, Natalia Harding, told NY1 Political Anchor Dominic Carter. “Not in the last two months, just when the incident happened. They came to my house. Ever since then, that's it. It's like it's sweeped up under the rug."

In an exclusive Friday interview with NY1, Harding called for criminal charges in the death of her son, saying he was shot in the back by his fellow officer, Andrew Dunton.

"It wasn't an accident, Omar got shot in his back. That's not an accident," said Harding. Someone gets shot in their back, well Dunton can come and do me a favor, shoot me in my back too and just take me because the pain that I'm suffering - I want no other mother to go through what I am suffering right now."

Omar Edwards
Omar Edwards
She also said that race was a major factor in the shooting of her son, and that Dunton, a white policeman, is receiving different treatment than a black policeman like Edwards would have received.

"I would like to see him go to jail because if this was Omar Edwards who shot - whatever his name is - Dunton, Omar Edwards would be sitting in jail right now waiting to be tried for murder. Why isn't he trying for my son dead?" said Harding

Harding also said she initially didn’t know that it was Dunton, who fired the bullet.

“When they came to my house at 1:30 that Friday morning, I was told, and the widow was told, that your son has been shot in the back because he was chasing this guy,” Harding says of Miguel Goitia, the person arraigned after being caught breaking into Edwards’ car. “And I, personally, thought that was [Goitia] and [Edwards] was wrestling and got the gun away from him, and [Edwards] was trying to get away, and he got shot by [Goitia] in the back, not knowing it was an officer who shot my son in the back.

She also said she wants Governor David Paterson to appoint an independent prosecutor in the case.

NY1 reached out the the Manhattan district attorney's office about Harding's charges and a spokesperson had no comment.

In response to NY1's interview with Mrs. Harding, the mayor said in a statement Friday, "As a mayor, the hardest thing I have to do is tell parents that their child won't be coming home at the end of his or her shift. As a father, I cannot imagine the pain Mrs. Harding must be experiencing. My prayers continue to be with her, and members of the NYPD continue to be in regular contact with members of her family."

He added that he is working to find out exactly what happened on the night of her son's death.

The mayor also noted that changes in NYPD training sessions have already occurred in the wake of Edwards's death.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly added Friday, "I grieve for Omar's family and have seen too many tragic shootings of excellent officers like him over the course of my 40 year career with the police department."

A spokeswoman for the governor pointed out Friday that Paterson has created a statewide commission to investigate all "friendly fire" incidents.