
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, October 17, 1993                   TAG: 9310170092
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: New York Daily News
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Short

OLD SHOOTING, NEW HOMICIDE; VICTIM OF '52 DIES

A police officer shot in the line of duty 42 years ago died Friday of complications from the wound, and a ruling by the medical examiner Saturday turned the death into a brand new case of homicide.

The medical examiner ruled that former officer William Kennedy Sr., 72, died of "multiple complications of paraplegia resulting from a gunshot wound that damaged his spinal cord," said Charles Hirsch, spokesman for the medical examiner.

"The manner of death was ruled homicide," Hirsch said.

Kennedy's son, William Jr., said his father, who died in the Veterans Administration Hospital in the Bronx after an 18-month confinement, had been paralyzed from the chest down since he was shot while taking a suspect to Bellevue Hospital for observation Feb. 6, 1952.

Police Sgt. Frances Haimeck, a departmental spokeswoman, said Kennedy's death has opened a homicide investigation. Detectives will check departmental records next week to find the identity of Kennedy's assailant and to find out whether the person is alive or dead.

by CNB