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White Plains Cop Suspended Without Pay Following Involvement In Kenneth Chamberlain Shooting

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) - A White Plains police officer involved in the fatal shooting of an elderly, mentally disturbed ex-Marine last fall has been suspended without pay.

Officer Steven Hart was on a team of officers dispatched to check on the well-being of 68-year-old Kenneth Chamberlain after his medical alert device went off.

Instead of helping the sick man, police wound up shooting him after he refused to let officers into his apartment. Police said that Chamberlain armed himself with a knife and hatchet, and then charged when the officers broke down his door.

Hart is accused of hurling a racial slur at Chamberlain during the incident. He wasn't the one who fired the fatal shot.

Hart's attorney, John Pappalardo, told The Journal News that the officer is not a racist and denies that he used the slur.

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(TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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