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3 Allege Police Brutality After Pace Student's Death

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP/1010 WINS/CBS 2/WCBS 880) -- A lawyer said three college football players were brutalized by police when they tried to help a teammate who had been shot by a New York officer.

Attorney Bonita Zelman told 1010 WINS' Carol D'Auria that one player, 22-year-old Daniel Parker, begged police to let him perform CPR on his friend after he had been shot.

According to Zelman, an officer put a gun to Parker's ribs and threatened to shoot him before he arrested him.

LISTEN: WCBS 880's Catherine Cioffi with comments from the attorney

"He begged police to let him perform CPR on his friend, who he believed was dying," Zelman said. "They told him that if he did not back off, he was going to end up the same way as his friend, that he would be next."

She said two other players, Yvez Delpeche and Joseph Garcia, were subdued by stun gun.

"[Delpeche] was standing with his arms up in the air. He said to the police, 'Why did you do this to my friend? Why did you shoot him? What did he do to deserve this?'" Zelman said.

Zelman told 1010 WINS that after Delpeche argued with police, they instead pointed the stun guns at his stomach and shot him.

"At that point, they arrested him and charged him with obstructing governmental administration," said Zelman. "[Garcia] tried to help [Delpeche], and he was also tasered."

Police said Danroy "DJ" Henry was shot early Sunday when he sped off in his car, striking two officers who had responded to a bar disturbance.

Another player, Desmond Hynes, 21, was in the car with Henry. Zelman said he suffered a concussion after police threw him to the ground when pulling him from the backseat.

"These students were not committing any crime," Zelman said. "These same cowboy police who were improperly trained and given weapons that could cause death were running around the area with firearms out."

"They brutalized the four football players and then charged them with a crime to cover up the brutality."

Zelman is demanding that the officers involved be publicly identified and pulled off the police force. She is also calling for the Justice Department and Attorney General's Office launch an "independent and unbiased" investigation into Henry's death.

Those closest to the fallen student, though, said they are focused for the moment not on blame but on the irreparable loss of a friend.

"We honestly just came here to pay respects. Just an amazing individual. We love him; we miss him and were just going to leave it at that," former coach Justin Grandinetti told CBS 2's Lou Young.

An update on the joint county-state investigation into the shooting is expected early Thursday.

Pace University's next football game, against Belmont this Saturday, has been cancelled.

(TM and Copyright 2010 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2010 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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