Police probe Albany officer’s actions at casino
Investigators seek surveillance video from Oneida Indian Nation
The Utica police investigation into an Albany police officer’s fatal shooting of a man who tried to rob him at knifepoint is examining the officer’s actions at Turning Stone Casino in the 15 hours or so before the incident early Monday.
Grand jury subpoenas have been issued to the Oneida Indian Nation, which operates casino and resort, for any police or security records, as well as surveillance footage of the officer’s visit there before the shooting.
The officer, Christofer M. Kitto, 34, was off duty when he had arrived at Turning Stone with his brother at about 2 p.m. Sunday, authorities said.
Police said Kitto left the casino and drove alone to a Utica residence early Monday morning to meet with a prostitute he had made contact with through an online website. During their encounter, Kitto said he fatally shot 35-year-old Shatelle Hooks of Syracuse when Hooks
confronted him with a knife and tried to rob him, according to police.
Kitto and the alleged prostitute both called 911.
Initially, police said the shooting was justified and that Kitto was only being charged with patronizing a prostitute, a misdemeanor. But police and prosecutors now say the homicide investigation is ongoing and a final determination on whether the killing was justified has not been decided.
“This is far from over,” Utica police Chief Mark Williams said. “There’s a lot of forensic evidence that needs to be examined . ... We’re not deeming it justifiable; there’s no final decision on this.”
Police are examining data, including text messages, on the cell phones of Kitto, Hooks and the prostitute. They also seized Kitto’s newer-model vehicle to search it, with the officer’s consent, and are analyzing the vehicle for potential evidence, including any global-positioning satellite records that may have been stored in the vehicle’s computer system.
Kitto, who is married with two children, was placed on paid administrative leave on Monday. On Tuesday, Albany police officials said that he had been suspended without pay pending the outcome of an internal investigation. Kitto joined the department in July 2013.
Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins on Monday said the department did not dispatch internal affairs investigators to Utica following the shooting and were instead relying on information provided by the Utica Police Department.
Sources inside the Albany police force questioned that decision, noting that under their labor contract internal affairs investigators could have compelled Kitto to provide a blood sample to test for any drugs or alcohol in his system. Utica police said they lacked probable cause to force Kitto to give a blood sample.
There was an incident involving Kitto at a highend steakhouse restaurant in the casino during his stay there, but Oneida Nation officials declined to provide any details on Kitto’s actions or to say whether he had encounters with security officers or police.
“We subpoenaed all transactions that he had at the casino,” said Oneida County District Attorney Scott Mcnamara. “We have to account for approximately 15 hours.”
A spokesman for the Albany police department said they are aware of and are investigating the incidents that occurred at Turning Stone Casino involving Kitto.
Mcnamara said Kitto and the alleged prostitute both gave similar accounts of what happened and that it supported the officer’s assertion that he had opened fire in self defense.
“If you believe both of them then obviously the shooting was justified,” he said. “I don’t make decisions that quick on a homicide case. We sent the knife out and we want to make certain whose DNA is on the knife.”
The personal handgun that Kitto used to kill Hooks is also being forensically tested, authorities said.
The district attorney said that if the case is presented to a grand jury and the final decision is that the shooting is justified he will issue a “full report” so that the public understands the basis of that decision and the evidence supporting it.
Police said that Kitto and the known prostitute, whose name has not been released because she is cooperating in the investigation, both acknowledged they had arranged to meet for a sexual encounter at the Utica residence early Monday.
Utica police said Kitto was carrying about $3,000 cash at the time of the shooting.
Hooks, a Syracuse resident with a criminal history that includes a conviction for attempted robbery, was transported to St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Utica, where he died from his injuries.