Several New York City police officers who killed an unarmed black man in a hail of 50 bullets on his wedding day will not face criminal civil rights charges, the US Justice Department said yesterday.

Sean Bell, 23, was killed and two friends injured outside a strip club after his bachelor party in November 2006.

His death outraged New York's black community, who contended that no white suspect would have been shot so many times, if at all.

In April 2008, a New York state judge cleared two of the officers involved of manslaughter and a third of reckless endangerment. Federal authorities then launched a separate investigation that could have brought civil rights charges against the officers.

"After a careful and thorough review, a team of experienced federal prosecutors and FBI agents determined that the evidence was insufficient to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the law enforcement personnel who fired at Bell acted wilfully," the Justice Department said.

"Accordingly, the investigation into this incident has been closed," it said.

Civil rights leader Al Sharpton criticised police, saying he spoke to US attorney-general Eric Holder on Tuesday and expressed his "extreme disappointment" at the decision.

"Even though two of the three officers in question were black, we will not stop our pursuit of justice in this matter until every measure in the criminal and civil arena has been exhausted," Mr Sharpton said in a statement.

"Fifty shots on an unarmed man who engaged in no crime is intolerable."

On the night of the shooting, the undercover officer who fired first had followed Mr Bell and his two friends to Mr Bell's car, believing they went to fetch a gun to settle a dispute at the strip club.

The police officer opened fire after being grazed by the car as Mr Bell attempted to drive away.

Several other officers reached Mr Bell's car after the initial confrontation and say they believe the undercover officer was being fired at from inside the vehicle.

- Reuters