Officers Shoot, Kill Man Threatening His Mother With Screwdriver In Queens, Police Say
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A man was killed in a police-involved shooting in the Springfield Gardens section of Queens, according to police.
NYPD Chief of Patrol Terence Monahan said two officers were called to the 137-64 Westgate Street house around 3 a.m. Saturday for reports of a woman screaming. He said they found a 28-year-old man in a stairwell holding a screwdriver and threatening his mother. A neighbor who called 911 told police she was screaming, "He's going to kill me!"
A police source told CBS2 the suspect was Jahlire Nicholson.
"Officers ordered the suspect to drop the weapon, the suspect refused," Monahan said.
A struggle ensued, and Nicholson's mother broke free, police said. Officers used a stun gun on Nicholson, but he moved suddenly to avoid it, authorities said.
"They tried to Tase him and he missed," a woman told reporters. "It's devastating."
Monahan said the officers fired a single round each, both hitting Nicholson. He was taken to Jamaica Hospital where he was pronounced dead. His mother was unharmed.
"It was a judgment call. It's either save the mom or try to apprehend the suspect," neighbor Tariq Ivan said.
Some neighbors told CBS2's Dave Carlin that a few hours earlier they saw a man they believed to be Nicholson walking nearby in an agitated state.
"Yelling, cussing, he was carrying on," Miles Douglas said. "We thought it was (directed at) his girlfriend, but it obviously was his mother."
Some who told Carlin they were acquainted with the woman said she lives in the basement apartment alone and her son lives on Long Island. They said he was in Queens visiting her.
Sources told CBS2 that Nicholson was on probation for gun possession at the time of the shooting. He's been previously arrested for charges including assault, robbery, weapons and marijuana possession.
Police have been called to the mother's home several times in recent years for reports of fighting, sources said.
Saturday's shooting comes just weeks after several other police-involved shootings in the city. Two men were killed after two separate police-involved shootings that happened within a span of six hours and just miles apart in Brooklyn earlier this month. That same week, two men were arrested following an early morning police-involved shooting and manhunt on Staten Island. Police say one of the men pointed a 9-mm handgun at officers responding to reports of gunshots in the area. Authorities fired multiple times, striking the suspect in the left leg and arm.
The names of all involved have not been released at this time as the investigation continues.
(TM and © Copyright 2017 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)