An NYPD social media post wrongly pinned a mass shooting at a parade in Brooklyn last year on a Black 15-year-old boy resulting in a dramatic personal upheaval for the teen and his family.
According to The Associated Press, more than two weeks after a shooting at New York City’s West Indian American Day Parade, police investigators posted a surveillance image of 15-year-old Camden Lee on their social media accounts and labeled him a shooting suspect.
But Lee was merely an innocent spectator of the event.
It would take another five months for the police department to make a public apology and admit the wrongdoing after quietly meeting with Lee’s family.
NYPD said the image circulated on social media “mistakenly” stated that Lee was “wanted for the fatal shooting,” read a statement sent to news outlet on Sunday, including The Associated Press.
“The NYPD should have immediately corrected this misstatement,” added the department’s new chief spokesperson, Delaney Kempner. “We apologize for the error and will continue to seek justice for the victims of this shooting.”
The shooting happened on Sept. 2, 2024. Camden Lee left football practice with a teammate around 1 p.m. that day and decided to stop by the Labor Day weekend celebration that quickly devolved into chaos when someone opened fire into the crowd.
A bullet grazed the shoulder of Lee’s friend, but Lee walked away unharmed.
Then, on Sept. 19, NYPD began circulating Lee’s image and stating that he “discharged a firearm” at the parade.
“I see the NYPD logo. I see me. I see ‘suspect wanted for murder,’” Lee told AP. “I couldn’t believe what was happening. Then everything went blurry.”
Lee’s mother immediately contacted an attorney who reached out to police the same day Lee’s photo was posted in an effort to meet with investigators and clear the teen’s name.
Police instructed the lawyer to bring Lee to Brooklyn’s 77th police precinct the following week where detectives privately met with Lee’s attorney and confirmed that the 15-year-old was not a suspect.
“They conceded they got it wrong,” attorney Kenneth Montgomery said. “But these officers were so cavalier about it. It was like they were playing a game with a kid’s life.”
Investigators discreetly removed Lee’s photo from their social accounts and contacted local reporters through texts, urging them and their outlets not to use the image.
However, because detectives never issued a public statement coming clean about the blunder, the teen and his family had to navigate the fallout on their own.
“I used to have a lot of trust in the NYPD and how they do things,” said Lee’s mother, Chee Chee Brock, whose older son recently joined the department. “But I raised my kids to admit when they made a mistake. If you can blame an innocent kid for murder, what else can you get away with?”
As Lee’s photo continued to circulate on the internet, online sleuths tracked down his social media accounts and sent him a slew of death threats.
The day after the shooting, police said that the violence was gang-related and described the suspect as a slim man in his 20s who wore a paint-stained brown shirt and bandana. The photo police posted showed Lee wearing neither of these clothing items.
Lee’s mother feared possible gang retaliation and decided to move her son and two daughters to a relative’s home outside of Brooklyn, forcing Lee to miss several weeks of school, which caused his grades to suffer.
When they finally moved back, Lee was forbidden to go out in public by himself.
“As a mom, the No. 1 thing I’m scared of is losing my kids to the streets or the jail system,” said. “So he doesn’t have freedom now. When he goes to the corner store, I time him.”
Months later the family can breathe a sigh of relief but are not completely satisfied with the public apology, calling it “superficial.”
It’s unclear why police initially identified Lee as a suspect. Deputy Commissioner for Public Information Delaney Kempner, a newly-appointed spokesperson, told AP she would look into the matter but did not elaborate further.
In December 2024, investigators increased the reward for information leading to the shooting suspect to $10,000. Even though police are no longer circulating Lee’s photo, the teen and his family are still pleading with them to publicly address their mistake.
“It takes me to a dark place,” Lee said. “I don’t feel like myself anymore. I don’t have the opportunity to explain my side of the story. Everyone is so fixed on this one image of me: murderer.”
The family is now weighing the possibility of taking legal action against the NYPD.
“There’s tremendous pressure on the NYPD to serve up results in a high-profile shooting like this,” said Wylie Stecklow, a civil rights attorney representing the family. “The fact that they’ve failed to explain how this mistake was made, and how they’ll avoid it in the future, is deeply troubling.”
