Police shot and killed a 78-year-old man during an incident that quickly unraveled Thursday afternoon in Brooklyn.
According to senior police officials, officers were responding to a call about a possible burglary on Lewis Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant around 1:15 p.m. Thursday. The caller said his elderly uncle believed someone was breaking into his apartment, police said.
Two officers canvassed the area and went up to the second floor. Once there, a man partially opened the front door of an apartment, with his body turned to the side and a gun in his left hand, NYPD Chief Jeffrey Maddrey said during a press conference. He allegedly then proceeded to point the weapon at police.
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Both responding officers drew their guns and fired, striking the individual multiple times, Maddrey said. Police performed aid on the man who was then rushed to the hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
Maddrey said it was not clear exactly how many times the man was shot, though a neighbor said he heard four shorts fired. Neither officer was hurt, though both were taken to a hospital for treatment of tinnitus, or ringing in the ears.
Police said the man who was shot by officers was not a robbery suspect, but rather lived in the apartment. A firearm was recovered at the scene (pictured below). Maddrey said it was unclear if the man had the weapon in an attempt to defend himself during the supposed robbery.
"That I can't answer," Maddrey said. "What I can tell you is that I observed the body camera, he clearly charged our officers with his gun. We do not know why."
Police confirmed that the man who died was the same "uncle" referred to during the police call reporting the apparent burglary — although Maddrey said there was no evidence of a burglary or a break-in inside the apartment.
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"The events that occurred earlier today are very tragic. Our young officers were put in a life-and-death situation and an elderly man lost his life today," Maddrey said during the press conference, adding that the entire incident unraveled in just a span of mere seconds.
The man has not yet been identified, but neighbors said he kept to himself. Some questioned whether police identified themselves when they knocked on his door.
"I cannot see him pointing a gun at a police officer, not at all...if somebody is knocking on your door, I would hope they announce who they were," said neighbor Sabrina Knox. "He was good, he was a good neighbor. This is very shocking to hear."
An investigation is ongoing, and the state attorney general's Office of Special Investigation has now opened a case to look into the shooting.
The NYPD’s Force Investigation Division is also looking into what led up to the deadly shooting at the hands of police.
It was the first of three police shootings across New York City on Thursday. Just a couple hours later, a man who was acting erratically while armed with a knife outside a Queens church was shot by NYPD officers after he stabbed security guard, according to police.
Then, just before 8 p.m., police opened fire on a suspect who was said to be waving a gun near a crowd of people at an elevated subway station in the Bronx, according police. The gun in that incident turned out to be an air pistol, but was made to very closely resemble a real handgun.
