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U.S. NEWS A7
                                                                                                                                                       Thursday 22 October 2015

Career criminal arrested in slaying of NYC police officer 

                                                                                   arrested 28 times since he   and a 78-year-old grazed      down, O’Neill said. Police
                                                                                   was 13 for offenses includ-  by a bullet, according to     said officers had attempt-
                                                                                   ing drug possession and      police. The disposition of    ed to locate Howard 10
                                                                                   robbery, authorities said.   that case wasn’t immedi-      times since the shooting.
                                                                                   He’s been sentenced to       ately clear.                  Charges against Howard
                                                                                   state prison twice since     Howard had also been          in Holder’s shooting were
                                                                                   2007 on drug possession      wanted in connection with     pending. It was unclear if
                                                                                   and sale convictions, state  the Sept. 1 shooting of a     he had a lawyer.
                                                                                   records show. Howard was     gang member, said James       Holder was the second
                                                                                   arrested in connection with  O’Neill, the NYPD’s chief of  NYPD officer killed this year
                                                                                   a June 2009 shooting that    department. He skipped        and the fourth slain in the
                                                                                   left an 11-year-old with a   court appearances and         past 11 months, Bratton
                                                                                   gunshot wound to the leg     police couldn’t track him     said.q

Flowers were left at a makeshift memorial to honor New York
City Police Department Officer Randolph Holder outside the
police station in New York, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2015. Holder,
a five-year veteran of the NYPD, was shot dead Tuesday night
during an exchange of gunfire in East Harlem.

                                                         (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

MICHAEL BALSAMO                 selling crack cocaine at an
Associated Press                East Harlem public housing
NEW YORK (AP) — career          complex. But Bratton said
criminal accused of killing     Howard was released into
a police officer had been       a drug diversion program,
released from a  U.S. jail      which is meant to keep
into a drug diversion pro-      drug offenders from over-
gram and was wanted in          crowding the city’s jails.
a shooting last month, said     “If ever there was a can-
Police Commissioner Wil-        didate not to be diverted,
liam Bratton, noting that       it would be this guy,” Brat-
the suspect had shown an        ton said. “There are peo-
increasing level of violence    ple in our society who are
and shouldn’t have been         criminals, who are violent
on the streets.                 criminals ... who should be
Tyrone Howard is expected       separated from the rest of
to be charged with fatally      society.” But court officials
shooting New York Police        said Howard qualified for
Department Officer Ran-         the program because he
dolph Holder during a gun-      was charged with selling
fight Tuesday night on a        and possessing drugs and
pedestrian bridge leading       was addicted.
to the East River after steal-  “Actually, he’s the perfect
ing a bike.                     candidate in many ways,”
He was arrested in October      state court system spokes-
2014 along with 18 other        man David Bookstaver told
people and charged with         The Associated Press.
                                Howard pleaded guilty to
                                the drug charge this May
                                and was ordered to attend
                                monthly status meetings,
                                but he stopped attending
                                those Aug. 21. An arrest
                                warrant was issued Sept.
                                17.
                                The 30-year-old had been
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