The shooting happened early Saturday as a group of men were leaving a strip club where they were celebrating the slain man's bachelor party. Police opened fire on the men's car after it rammed into an undercover officer and then hit an unmarked police van twice, according to New York authorities.
Officers apparently thought one of the men had a gun and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly wouldn't say if the car accidents were what prompted the plainclothes detectives to shoot the victims.
The victims' car was riddled with bullets - 21 in all - hitting the groom-to-be, Sean Bell; Joseph Guzman, 31, who was in the front seat and was shot at least 11 times; and Trent Benefield, 23, who was in the back seat and was hit three times.
Bell had two young children with his fiancée, ages three years and five months.
Authorities believe there was a fourth person in the car who may have fled the scene. Officers searched the victims' vehicle and found no weapons inside.
Guzman is listed in critical condition in hospital and Benefield is said to be in serious, but stable condition.
Police bullets also hit nearby homes and a train station, but no one else was hurt.
Officials say the incident stemmed from an undercover operation inside the strip club. Seven officers were investigating the Kalua Cabaret and five were involved in the shooting.
Kelly says it's still too early to determine if the shooting was justified. The deadly incident has shocked and angered the victims' families, community groups and religious leaders, including Rev. Al Sharpton.
The civil rights advocate visited the hospitals where the victims were taken.
"I will stand with this family," Sharpton said Saturday.
"This stinks. Something about the story being told did not seem right."
Robert Porter, who identified himself as Bell's first cousin, said he was supposed to DJ at his relative's wedding Saturday. About 250 friends and family were planning to fly in from across the U.S. for the big day.
"I still don't want to believe it," he said.
"A beautiful day like this and he was going to have a beautiful wedding, he was going to live forever with his wife and children. And this happened."
NYPD