Troy

The FBI is joining the city police department's investigation of an officer-involved shooting on Aug. 15 of a parole absconder in the city's North Central neighborhood, city officials said Wednesday night.

Chief John Tedesco confirmed the FBI's involvement after he was contacted by the Times Union about a potential federal investigation.

"They're not really going to investigate. They're going to assist," Tedesco said.

The chief declined to make any additional comments about the case.

Parole violator Dahmeek McDonald, 22, was wounded when he was struck twice by bullets fired at the intersection of Eighth Street and Rensselaer Street.

At an Aug. 16 press conference, police said Officer Jarrod Iler had fired his service weapon. Iler's partner, Officer Martin Furciniti, and two other responding officers did not fire.

Police had been looking for McDonald, who absconded from his parole supervision in April.

Mayor Patrick Madden decided to ask for the FBI's assistance, according to city officials. There have been demonstrations about the shooting in North Central, which is the city's poorest neighborhood.

Madden could not be reached Wednesday night for comment about the FBI's entrance into the case.

Councilwoman Kim Ashe-McPherson, who chairs the City Council's Public Safety Committee, said she had learned that Madden sought the FBI's participation but has heard nothing from the mayor.

"I do not understand why the mayor feels he has to bring in the FBI. I have the utmost confidence in our chief of police and officers in our police department," Ashe-McPherson said.

Police officers have been talking about the federal role but have not heard from City Hall.

"They haven't talked to me about it. This was a decision made without me," Detective Aaron Collington, president of the Tory Police Benevolent Association, said about the administration's actions.

City Council members said they're frustrated by a lack of information about the case.

"(The administration should) put a statement out. I'm so disgusted," said Councilman Mark McGrath, whose 2nd District includes the site of the shooting.

Monday, attorney Mark S. Mishler, who is representing McDonald and his family, said McDonald told him he was not armed, the Times Union reported.

Police have declined to say whether or not McDonald was armed, citing the continuing investigation.

Mishler sent a letter to Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel E. Abelove demanding that Abelove recuse his office from overseeing the shooting investigation and any grand jury presentation.

Mishler said he made the request in part because Abelove is the target of an ongoing investigation by state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. The attorney general since February has been probing Abelove's handling of an April 2016 shooting in which Edson Thevenin was fatally shot by Sgt. Randall French after allegedly fleeing a DWI stop.

McGrath said McDonald's car should be considered a weapon.

"He tried to drive away. He tried to run the officer down. The officer to protect himself fired," McGrath said.

City Council President Carmella Mantello said the officers are entitled to a just hearing.