NYPD: 78-year-old resident fatally shot by officers responding to burglary call after pointing gun at them
NEW YORK - Police say officers responding to a burglary call in Brooklyn on Thursday shot and killed an elderly resident after he allegedly charged at them with a gun.
It all happened around 1:30 p.m. on Lewis Avenue near Hancock Street.
Police say they got a call from a man saying his elderly uncle was inside his apartment and he believed someone was breaking into the home.
Exclusive surveillance video shows two NYPD officers responding to the 911 call.
NYPD Chief of Patrol Jeffrey Maddrey says he reviewed their body-worn footage, which shows the cops knock at the apartment and the 78-year-old resident partially open the door with a firearm in his hand.
"Our officers observe the firearm. They started yelling no. They start retreating. The male raises the firearm up and actually steps out the apartment with the firearm pointed at the officers," Maddrey said.
The officers shot the 78-year-old man six times.
"Both of the officers fell to the ground because they were trapped inside the hallway. They didn't really have any place to retreat. Once the officers were able to get back up and get composed, they start performing CPR and other lifesaving measures on the male until additional units arrive, until they got assistance from EMS," Maddrey said.
All three were taken to the hospital, where the 78-year-old died. His identity has not yet been released.
The officers are expected to be OK.
"There was some kind of commotion in the hallway. I'd opened my door, and once I did, there was a loud, it sounded like a loud crashing," neighbor Ray Weiss said.
Investigators say they recovered a gun from the scene.
This was the gun recovered at the scene. https://t.co/aTcNa61EdP pic.twitter.com/yjf0bEmy8b
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) April 13, 2023
Neighbors who spoke to CBS2 are in disbelief.
"The gentleman who got shot, very loving man ... If you needed the shirt off your back, he'll give it to you, so it's just unfortunate that this happened to him of all people," one person said.
Mo Almuliki works in the corner bodega and has known the 78-year-old man for over a decade.
"We met, I remember, when I was doing homework in the corner right there. He started helping me with homework," Almuliki said. "Everybody loves him in the neighborhood."
As the investigation unfolds, the chief of police says it's still unclear if there was a burglary to begin with.
"We looked around, and at this time, it doesn't appear, but again, this is only a few hours old. Our crime scene has to go through there, emergency service unit has to go through there, forced investigation and detective squad. There's a lot of work that remains," Maddrey said.
Watch Hannah Kliger's report
Police maintain that the officers were trapped in a narrow hallway during the encounter and did not point the gun at the man when they knocked on the door, only firing when they thought they were in danger.
"This is a tragic situation. Our officers were put in a life-or-death situation investigating a crime in progress," Maddrey said.
Residents coming home to the chaos were disturbed to find an active crime scene investigation on their street.
"I looked over at my Citizen app, and I saw it was my address, so I walked right over and they won't let me in, so I'm just waiting to find out what happened," resident Amanda Granger said.
As the investigation continues, police are combing through cameras in the area to see if there was, in fact, a burglary taking place.
Police sources said the nephew who made the 911 call was at the precinct talking to police Thursday afternoon.
This was the first of three police-involved shootings in New York City on Thursday.
Around 4 p.m. Thursday, officers shot and wounded a man in Queens after he allegedly stabbed a security guard at a church in Jamaica.
A few hours later, officers shot a man armed with a gun at a Bronx subway station.
A spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams released the following statement in response to the shootings:
"Since day one, public safety has been this administration's top priority,which is why the NYPD is working every day to remove guns from our streets, protect our communities, and create a safe, prosperous, and just city for all New Yorkers. Until every New Yorker is safe, there will always still be work left to do, but we are taking some of the biggest actions in years to protect New Yorkers and, as a result, crime is trending in the right direction. Major crimes are down so far this year with the most violent crimes, including murders and shootings, declining. We will never stopfighting to protect the residents of this city and to dam the many rivers that feed the sea of violence."