Family Of Emotionally Disturbed Man Shot Dead By Police Meets With Brooklyn DA
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The family of an emotionally disturbed man who was recently shot and killed by police met with the Brooklyn District Attorney's office Thursday.
As WCBS 880's Mike Smeltz reported, Sanford Rubenstein – an attorney representing the family of Dwayne Jeune, 32 – said the 90-minute meeting with Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez left them confident that Jeune's death will be investigated fairly.
He said the investigation will include a claim by an independent witness that Jeune did not have a knife in his hand.
"There are serious issues in this case," Rubenstein said. "Whether there was a weapon – a knife; kitchen knife, or not – that is under investigation."
It was around 12:30 p.m. Monday, July 31, when Jeune's mother called 911 reporting that her son was behaving erratically in their home in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.
"The 911 call was for a non-violent emotionally disturbed person and stated that he had no weapons," NYPD Chief of Patrol Terence Monahan said at the time.
Investigators say four officers responded to the call and Jeune's mother let them into the apartment where, within seconds, police say Jeune was charging at them with a 14-inch knife.
At first, detectives said the officers tried to stop Jeune with a Taser, hitting him twice.
"The suspect was able to fight through it and keep moving forward," Monahan said.
That's when they say one of the officers fired multiple shots, striking Jeune in the chest.
Jeune's father, Vibert, said his son suffered from mental health issues but was not a violent person.
"You can do thousands of good things, but one bad thing you do and it will depend on that," Vibert Jeune said. "But Dwayne was not a bad person."
