After the first week of the trial of the three detectives accused of shooting an unarmed man 50 times, a question has risen: did the detectives identified themselves before shooting?

The commanding officer of the undercover police unit, Lt Gary Napoli, testified on Friday that he didn’t hear detective Gescard F. Isnora, who was the one who fired first, identifying himself before shooting, on the night of Nov. 25, 2006 when Sean Bell was killed by 50 bullets. He also didn’t hear any of the other officers, Detectives Michael Oliver and Marc Cooper who are also on trial, yell “Police!”

Bell’s friends and an exotic dancer made the same claims but this is the first time a fellow officer makes this kind of testimony.

Lieutenant Napoli also testified that he didn’t remember if Detective Isnora or Detective Oliver were wearing their badges when they fired at Bell.

In the opening statements from last week, Detective Isnora’s lawyers said that their client testified before a grand jury that he yelled “Police!”

Defense lawyers wanted to question the fact that the lieutenant could have heard the shot.

On that night, Lieutenant Napoli was in the passenger seat of an unmarked car going south on Liverpool Street, away from Bell’s car, where detective Isnora was heading to.

Bell hit Detective Isnora in the leg with the car and rammed over the unmarked van of Detective Oliver, hitting a wall and rammed the van again.  

The lieutenant said that at the first shots he ducked in his car to find a police dome light for his unmarked car.

He said he heard a noise like two cars crashed and then gunshots. He stayed in the car as he thought police was under fire.

A defense lawyer, Anthony L. Ricco, asked him: “Because you didn’t hear it does that mean it wasn’t done?”

Lieutenant Napoli replied: “No,” The New York Times reports.

Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, Bell’s friends will testify that Detective Isnore didn’t identify before firing.  

Sean Bell, along with two friends, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, was leaving Club Kalua on the morning of November 25, 2006 just when the police was conducting an undercover investigation in the club. Officers shot 50 bullets at Bell believing that he was armed, and killed him. His two friends were injured.

Police said that Bell wanted to hit the detectives with the car.

Oliver and Isnora can be charged for first- and second-degree manslaughter resulting in a sentence of 25 years, and Cooper is facing two charges of reckless endangerment and may receive a year in jail.