Man With Pellet Gun Arrested On Brooklyn Rooftop, Sources Say He May Have Been Recording Video
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - What looked like a heavily armed gunman on the top of a Brooklyn building Tuesday terrified neighbors, but police say it turned out to be far less serious.
NYPD aviation footage hones in on a man dressed in all black, wearing a mask and yielding what looks like an assault rifle on the roof of a Rogers Avenue apartment building in Crown Heights.
Real or Fake? This NYPD Aviation footage captured what a 911 caller reported earlier today in Brooklyn. It was only an Airsoft rifle and the male was safely taken into custody by ESU. @NYPDnews pic.twitter.com/y7hD0lYLOR
— NYPD Special Ops (@NYPDSpecialops) March 3, 2020
"We saw the guy. He was, like, loading a weapon," witness Melly Bello said.
Bello spotted the man just after 11 a.m. from her office window next door and called 911.
"We were asked to go under our desks so we were, like, on lockdown mode," she said.
Police quickly shut down the block and surrounded the building, snipers on guard. Worried bystanders looked for cover.
"I got scared and then I went into a, ironically enough, a funeral home to hide for a moment, OK? And then they told me, 'You can't stay in here.' I'm like, 'There's an active shooter.' He goes, 'You can't stay in here.' I'm like, 'Well, I don't wanna come back dead,'" witness Juan Elias Lopera said.
Chopper 2 was overhead when NYPD Special Operations officers swarmed the roof, surrounding the apparent gunman, then brought him down in handcuffs and led him to the back seat of a squad car.
Great job by #NYPD ESU quickly apprehending a suspect who was reported to be armed with a gun. The male on the roof was safely taken into custody and was in possession of a Airsoft rifle. pic.twitter.com/Ccy5UkkZUP
— NYPD Special Ops (@NYPDSpecialops) March 3, 2020
"I have no idea what was going through his head," Bello said.
Sources tell CBS2 the 26-year-old suspect has his own YouTube channel, which he frequently posts on, and was apparently trying to record a video before he was arrested.
Police recovered what turned out to be an airsoft BB rifle, as well as multiple cameras, which the suspect had strapped on himself.
No one was injured, but Crown Heights resident Taylor Grant wants to know how the suspect was able to turn her apartment building into his personal stage.
"If he was able to get in the building, that's really scary," Grant told CBS2's Ali Bauman.
The suspect is being questioned by police and charges are pending.