Three witnesses are shedding some light into the fatal shooting of a city police officer.

Investigators say all three heard the officer who shot Omar Edwards identify himself as a police officer, before firing.

Officer Omar Edwards, who was black, was shot to death in Harlem Thursday night by a white officer, Andrew Dunton while chasing a suspect who investigators say he caught rummaging through his car.

The witnesses included the suspect along with two other police officers who were on the scene.

Meanwhile, a group of local religious leaders gathered Monday afternoon to call on the city to release surveillance video from the night of the shooting.

Edwards was in plain clothes and running after a man who he found rummaging through his car. He had his gun drawn at the suspect when he was shot.

Earlier in the day, a group of Baptist ministers from the Baptist Ministers Conference called on the New York City Police Department to release any surveillance video from that night. It is not clear whether any video exists.

The ministers are also asking for public safety hearings to be held by the City Council.

"I am compelled to ask our city officials to convene whatever inquiries, hearings or meetings necessary to shed light on this, what they call 'friendly fire,'" said Reverend Calvin Owens, president of the Baptist Ministers Conference. "State and federal officials, I urge you to do the same."

Councilman Peter Vallone, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, says no hearings on this matter are planned. His office says it is waiting for the results from the NYPD investigation.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg is ripping Harlem Congressman Charles Rangel for his comments on the shooting.

When asked Saturday what President Barack Obama should do during his visit to the city, Rangel said, "Make sure he doesn't run around East Harlem unidentified."

"I don't think Charlie was right," said Bloomberg at a news conference today. "I don't think race had anything to do with this. This was a terrible event that took place. I don't know if accident is the right word. I don't know whether our procedures were adequate enough. We're going to look at that."

However, in a statement released Monday morning, Rangel said that while he should not have involved the president and the first lady, the shooting highlights the need for additional training for the city's police officers.

"It was entirely inappropriate to bring the president and his wife into this discussion during their visit to New York, and I hope my off-the-cuff comment did not cause embarrassment to anyone."

Also on Monday, Governor David Paterson and the Reverend Al Sharpton met with Edwards' family inside their Brooklyn home.

Paterson stopped short of calling for an independent investigation on the Edwards shooting itself, but said he was open to a broader investigation of accidental shootings like the one last week.

"Perhaps we need to look at the statistics, see if there are parallels we can draw and try to stop this from ever happening again," said Paterson.

A wake will be held for Edwards Tuesday and Wednesday at the Woodward Funeral Home on Troy Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

The funeral will be held Thursday at Our Lady of Victory Church at 583 Throop Avenue in in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Edwards leaves behind a wife and two young children.