Here in New York, the police department is coming under intense criticism after a group of undercover officers shot and killed a 23-year-old African-American man hours before he was supposed to get married to his high school sweetheart. Early Saturday morning, five officers fired 50 shots at a car carrying the groom-to-be, Sean Bell, who had just left his bachelor party with two friends. None of them were armed. Bullets hit Bell in the neck and arm. He died before reaching the hospital. Joseph Guzman is in critical condition after being hit by 11 bullets. Trent Benefield is in stable condition with wounds to his leg. Benefield was screaming out in pain when reporters arrived at the scene Saturday morning.

Trent Benefield: “I can’t feel my legs! No! I can’t feel my legs!”

Two transit workers were also injured by stray bullets fired by the police. The police claim the shooting occurred after Bell’s car hit an undercover officer and an unmarked police minivan. One witness told the Daily News that the undercover police officers didn’t identify themselves until after they had begun shooting, and that the men initially thought they were being robbed. On Sunday, the Rev. Al Sharpton led a protest of hundreds of demonstrators.

Rev. Al Sharpton: “I’ve already communicated with the city that this stinks. Something about the story being told does not smell right.”

Al Sharpton also criticized police for handcuffing the two men to their hospital beds while they received emergency care. Many people compared the shooting of Sean Bell to the death of Amadou Diallo, who was killed in 1999 when police fired 41 shots at him.