NYPD officers shot and killed a man who allegedly rammed his vehicle into a police cruiser during a high-speed chase on the Belt Parkway in Bath Beach, Thursday afternoon, and then later pointed a gun at cops.
Police spokesperson Det. George Tsourovakas confirmed that officers had shot the man, who has not been identified by police, just after 4 pm, and dispatchers over police radio reported the chase, and the crash.
Chief Rodney Harrison said at a press conference that the incident began when the highway patrol officer pulled over the 65-year-old male driver of a Jeep SUV, but when the officer approached the vehicle he sped away.
The officer sped up towards him and attempted to box him in, Harrison said. Video obtained by CBS 2 [1] shows the driver of a Jeep SUV swerving to avoid the unmarked cop car which had sped up in front of him.
Later, after both the officer and the tailgater have pulled over near the Bay Parkway exit in Bath Beach, the man stands opposite the officer holding what appears to be a gun, and the officer can be heard yelling at him to drop the gun. Harrison said that the man pulled a gun out of his backseat and began pointing it at the officer and others who had arrived as backup, and continued toward. Afterwards, in graphic video posted on Twitter [2], a succession of gunshots can be heard, about twenty shots in all. Harrison said the officers had their body cameras activated at the time of the shooting. The man was struck in the leg by the cascade of bullets, the Chief said.
[caption id="attachment_159780" align="alignnone" width="700"] Nine small orange cones near the scene of the shootingPhoto by Lloyd Mitchell[/caption]
Video published by the New York Post [3] shows that the officers shot the man while crouching behind their parked squad car.
Cops on scene recovered a handgun, Harrison noted. The Daily News reported [4], however, that the firearm the man held was actually a pellet gun.
The officers can be seen rendering aid to the victim before EMTs arrived. Paramedics rushed the shooting victim to Maimonides Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The Daily News reported the bullet severed an artery, and the man died from blood loss.
The incident remains under investigation.
This story is developing. Check back here for further updates.
[1] https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2021/11/11/nypd-belt-parkway-shooting/
[2] https://twitter.com/NY_ACTIONS/status/1458919685685133312
[3] https://nypost.com/2021/11/11/nyc-man-shot-critically-wounded-by-police/
[4] https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-brooklyn-police-shooting-20211111-kwv2rmc7e5gzrheucd4cesx4mi-story.html
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