Adelphi University Drivers Ed
February 23, 1981,Section B, Page1Buy Reprints
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Eight days after a 21-year-old student was shot to death on the Adelphi University campus here by a Garden City policeman, fellow students and campus and law enforcement officials have raised troubling questions over what happened and why.
In a series of interviews in the last few days, witnesses to the shooting and other sources have provided new information, some of it contradictory, about the incident that led to the death of the student, Edward Fonseca, an Adelphi junior from Oakdale, L.I.
Mr. Fonseca was killed by one shot from the .38-caliber service revolver of Officer John McNulty, a 55-year-old veteran of 25 years on the Garden City police force. It was the first shot the officer had ever fired in the line of duty.
Officer McNulty refused to be interviewed by The New York Times. His lawyer, Michael Axelrod, said the officer would voluntarily tell his version of the incident to the Nassau County grand jury that is reviewing the case.
Officer to Testify
Mr. Axelrod said that Mr. McNulty would waive his constitutional rights against self-incrimination when he appeared before the grand jury, presumably this week. The grand jury, which is considering whether Officer McNulty used excessive force, began taking testimony three days ago.
The death of Mr. Fonseca, a popular student who was a starting player on Adelphi's soccer team, has aroused considerable protest at the university. Among the questions that have been raised are these:
- Was Officer McNulty in a life-threatening situation when he fired?
- Did Officer McNulty warn Mr. Fonseca before firing?
- Was Mr. Fonseca armed with the policeman's blackjack at the time of the shooting?
- Where, during the incident, was Officer Jack Kearns, another Garden City policeman who arrived at Adelphi with Officer McNulty? Lawyer Calls It Self-Defense
'McNulty panicked,' said John E. Long, a lawyer for the Fonseca family who is preparing a civil suit against Garden City and possibly other officials.
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'He absolutely acted in self-defense,' said Mr. Axelrod. 'He felt his life was in danger.' The events leading up to the incident began shortly before 2 A.M. on Feb. 14, while a Valentine's Day dance, at which drinks had been served, was nearing an end on the second floor of the Ruth S. Harley University Center.
According to the Nassau County police, Robert G. Ayoub, a 19-yearold sophomore from Brooklyn who 'had been drinking' and had apparently had a disagreement with a female acquaintance, 'punched out' the glass pane of a door and went into a lavatory on the floor, where two broken mirrors were also found later. Mr. Ayoub, who had severed a tendon in a finger, was bleeding profusely. Ambulance Is Summoned
Two supervisors at the university center - Thomas LaBarbera, the 28-year-old assistant director, and Alfred C. Eberhardt 3d, the 23-year-old night manager - came to Mr. Ayoub's aid, and a telephone call for additional help was placed to Adelphi's security booth, by the main entrance to the campus. Dennis Foley, the security supervisor on duty, notified Sgt. Henry Wilson and Officer Robert Hayes, the two uniformed but unarmed security guards who were working at the time. Mr. Hayes went to the campus infirmary to summon Joan Attard, a nurse, and Sergeant Wilson went to check on Mr. Ayoub.
John Zapf, the university's chief of security, said this week that when Mr. Ayoub refused to allow Sergeant Wilson to assist him, the sergeant called the security booth and requested an ambulance. Mr. Foley then called the Garden City police, which ordered an ambulance from the Nassau County Police Department in Mineola, adjacent to Garden City.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ayoub agreed to be led out the back door of the center with the nurse and to be taken to the campus infirmary or to a hospital in a campus security car. According to Mr. LaBarbera and Mr. Eberhardt, the student was highly agitated and adamant against going into an ambulance or a police car. Injured Man Collapses
Mr. Ayoub was taken out the back exit, his bandaged hand still bleeding, but the security car had not arrived. While Mr. Eberhardt went back into the center to find out what had delayed the car, Mr. Ayoub left the nurse and ran around the side of the building, down a fire lane toward the front entrance of the center and onto a 30-foot-wide patch of grass between the fire lane and a tennis court, where he collapsed.
It was around this time, at 2:10 A.M., that the ambulance arrived, driven by a uniformed medical technician, John O'Reilly, and accompanied by Officers McNulty and Kearns in separate police cars. They pulled up and parked in the fire lane.
Just then, as the dance ended inside the center, students began to come out of the front entrance and head toward a parking lot. Some of the students - estimates range between eight and 30 - caught sight of Mr. Ayoub on the grass and went to his side.
Mr. Ayoub, according to both university center employees and law enforcement officials, again refused to get into the ambulance and Officer McNulty and Mr. O'Reilly acceded to his wish. A Kick or a Slip
Mr. Eberhardt, who had returned outside, recalled: 'Bobby calmed down and asked if he could stand up. We said, 'Sure.' But maybe 30 seconds later, he ran after the ambulance guy. I don't know if he gave him a karate-type kick but I think he just slipped.'
The technician was struck in the back by Mr. Ayoub but remained on his feet, Mr. Eberhardt said. Mr. Ayoub, however, fell backward and landed face up. Officer McNulty rushed over, Mr. Eberhardt recalled, 'and pulled out his blackjack and immediately hit Bobby three or four times around the head and shoulders.' Garden City officials said last week that blackjacks were not regular issue to the local police but that 90 percent of the officers bought their own and carried them.
Law enforcement officials said that Mr. McNulty, who has given a statement to Nassau County detectives, believes he struck Mr. Ayoub with the blackjack and is certain that he hit at least one other student in the head with the weapon.
Mr. LaBarbera identified that other student as John Ciciolla. 'I clearly saw McNulty strike Ciciolla with the blackjack,' he said. Use of Blackjack Is Protested
At this point, Mr. Eberhardt said, three or four 'people in uniform' yanked Officer McNulty away from Mr. Ayoub. ' 'No, don't,' they said to him.'
Mr. LaBarbera remembered seeing Mr. Fonseca among the students who went by him and began screaming at Officer McNulty about his use of a blackjack. Philip Prestamo, a 21-year old senior who was trying to aid Mr. Ayoub, said that Mr. Fonseca and others shouted that they had Officer McNulty's badge number and might file a complaint against him.
Mr. Eberhardt said that, as Officer McNulty backed away, he was able to lead Mr. Ayoub into Mr. McNulty's patrol car, where the two were joined in the back seat by the nurse. 'Just as I was getting into the car, I heard a noise; it sounded like a firecracker to me.'
Roy Feliciano, a student who had been working in the university center that night, said that he was standing a few feet away from Mr. McNulty's car, looking directly across the hood at the commotion. A Gun Is Drawn; a Shot Fired
'McNulty was backing off the grass and toward the front driver's side fender of his car.' Mr. Feliciano said. 'Several other uniformed people were next to him as he moved backward. 'Why'd you hit him, why'd you hit him?' the students were shouting. They were pointing at McNulty and had their arms up in the air. I saw the officer take out his gun, hold it down by his thigh for a few seconds, and then put it back in the holster. His head was looking right and left all the while.'
Mr. Feliciano said the students pursued Officer McNulty and the men accompanying him and 'as the officer got by the driver's door, he took out his gun, held it low by his side and shot low. I saw the sparkle and the smoke.'
The Nassau County Medical Examiner's office said later that the bullet severed two of Mr. Fonseca's arteries, pierced his liver and came to rest in his stomach.
Mr. Feliciano said that at the time of the shooting, the students were about three to five feet from Mr. McNulty. 'Someone shouted that a student had been shot, but someone else shouted, 'It's a bluff,' ' Mr. Feliciano recalled. 'When Eddie went down and they realized what had happened, they started shouting, 'Kent State, Kent State.' ' A Different Account
According to the Nassau County police, Officer McNulty had 'scuffled on the ground' with Mr. Ayoub and was subsequently 'surrounded' and kicked and punched by the students. The police said that Officer Kearns was also physically abused and was 'separated' by the students from Officer McNulty.
Neither the police nor anyone else has suggested that the students involved in the episode, with the possible exception of Mr. Ayoub, were drunk.
A police source said that Mr. McNulty had his hat knocked off and his radio smashed and that the students 'pulled at his gunbelt' while he was trying to 'restrain' Mr. Ayoub.
Mr. McNulty has told detectives that Mr. Fonseca took his six- to eight-inch blackjack away and was brandishing it at him. Before Officer McNulty shot Mr. Fonseca, the police said in an official statement, Mr. McNulty 'ordered him to stay back and drop the blackjack. Fonseca kept coming.' Location of Blackjack at Issue
Law enforcement sources said this week that no witness had been found to corroborate Officer McNulty's story that Mr. Fonseca had grabbed the blackjack and was threatening him with it. Nor did anyone interviewed by The Times substantiate the officer's account with regard to Mr. Fonseca's holding the blackjack. Mr. Feliciano, like others who witnessed the events, said that, as far as he could see, Mr. Fonseca was unarmed.
Moments after the shooting, Mr. LaBarbera found a blackjack next to Mr. Fonseca's left calf. However, two students have told a private investigator for the Fonseca family that as they were pushed back from the site of the shooting, they noticed a blackjack on the fire lane about 15 to 20 feet away from the wounded student.
No one interviewed by The Times other than the police said that Officer McNulty was ever on the ground - Mr. Eberhardt said the officer was standing over Mr. Ayoub when he hit him with the blackjack - or had given a warning to Mr. Fonseca or that the officers were physically abused or that Officer Kearns was separated by the students from Officer McNulty.
Adelphi University Drivers Ed
Officer Kearns, the county police said, will not comment publicly on the incident. Mr. Axelrod, Mr. McNulty's lawyer, said that Mr. McNulty 'lost sight' of Officer Kearns during the incident. Ride in Patrol Car Described
Mr. Fonseca was quickly taken by the ambulance to Nassau Hospital in Mineola, where he was pronounced dead around 5 A.M. Meanwhile, Officer McNulty got into his patrol car and sped off with Mr. Ayoub, Mr. Eberhardt and the Adelphi nurse. Mr. Eberhardt said this week that he was unaware at the time - and he believes that the nurse and Mr. Ayoub were unaware - that Mr.Fonseca had been shot. Mr. Ayoub and the nurse have declined to be interviewed by reporters.
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Mr. Eberhardt said that no sooner had the patrol car left the campus, when Officer McNulty drew it to a halt. ' 'What's wrong?' I asked him. Bobby was bleeding badly and we had to get him to the hospital. But he didn't say anything. He was being called by the radio in the car but he didn't answer that either.
'Then we started off again but he only went a little way before he stopped again. I asked him again to get going, and all he said was 'If all three of you don't shut up, you can walk to the hospital.' He had a shocked and stunned look on his face.' Officer Still on Duty
Eventually, Mr. Eberhardt said, Officer McNulty picked up the radio and asked permission to take Mr. Ayoub to the hospital. 'He got it and off we went. We asked him to turn on his siren but he didn't respond.' At Nassau Hospital, Mr. Eberhardt said, 'we asked him to unlock the car doors so we could get out. He still didn't respond. Finally he reached back and lifted the door buttons. But that didn't work and we couldn't get out until he opened the doors himself.'
The Garden City Police Department refused this week to discuss the incident or Officer McNulty's background. Officer McNulty has not been charged with any offense or police rule violation and is still on duty.
Mr. Axelrod described Mr. McNulty as 'a nice man, a family man' with 'college-age children.' He said that Mr. McNulty had been cited three times for meritorious service as a policeman and had 'acquitted himself well in previous riot situations.' 'Remember,' Mr. Axelrod added, 'when he fired at Adelphi, he only fired once.'
Mayor Daniel Duff of Garden City said the Garden City police enjoyed excellent relations with Adelphi in the past and only went on campus when summoned because of a fire alarm, an ambulance call or the commission of a felony.
Timothy Costello, the 65-year-old former Deputy Mayor of New York City who has been president of Adelphi since 1972, also declined to discuss details of the incident. The students, he said, had responded 'nobly' to the 'tragedy,' although with 'anxiety, depression and some anger.' Hundreds of the university's 11,000 students attended memorial services for Mr. Fonseca on the campus and in Bohemia, L.I., where he was buried on Tuesday.