U.S. Sen. Scott Brown Calls for Investigation After Pace University Football Star Shot by Police

Teammates say Danroy Henry Jr. was killed trying to move his car from fire lane.

ByABC News
October 22, 2010, 8:00 AM

Oct. 22, 2010— -- The family of a New York college football player who was shot by police then left to die without medical attention has an attorney and a U.S. senator helping to find out what precipitated the young man's death.

"While we know there are lots of versions, lots of stories that have come out, we're just trying to get to the absolute truth here," Danroy Henry Sr. told "Good Morning America" today.

"We owe it to our son," he said. "We owe it to his legacy."

Danroy Henry Jr., a 20-year-old student at Pace University, was killed last weekend as he sat in his car with his friends after a night out in suburban Mount Pleasant celebrating a homecoming game.

But there are differing accounts of what happened and a cell phone video showing the chaos failed to capture what triggered the shooting.

Police say they were responding to an unruly crowd outside a bar, and when officers approached Henry's car, parked in a fire lane, and knocked on the window, the college student tried to speed away and struck an officer.

Police say an officer was thrown onto the hood of Henry's car and then opened fire.

But Henry's teammates who were in the car with him said they thought police were simply asking them to move out of the fire land when the office rapped on the window and then as soon as Henry began to move the car, police began shooting.

Henry was then taken out of the car and cuffed. He was left on the ground while paramedics treated officers for minor, non-life threatening injuries, according to some accounts.

A lawyer for three of Henry's teammates said they were all handcuffed and arrested after begging for help and trying to give Henry CPR. One was allegedly hit with a Taser as he tried to help his dying friend.

U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., whose district includes the Henrys' hometown of North Easton, Mass., has called for a thorough investigation.

"Regardless of who was at fault, there is a loss of life," he told Boston's WEEI "Dennis and Callahan Show" in a radio interview. "You know, a young life, a bright life is lost."

Mount Pleasant police said no one has filed a police brutality complaint.

The Henrys have retained New York lawyer Michael Sussman to help them sort through the chaos surrounding their son's death. Sussman said he would be going before a Westchester County judge today to request access to all evidence in the case.

"I made it very clear we want to be involved deeply," he told "Good Morning America."

"I appeal to anyone who has any information, any cell phones, any recordings that they get to our office."