Police fatally shoot knife-wielding man on Brooklyn Bridge
New York Police Department officers fatally shot a man on the Brooklyn Bridge after he allegedly approached them while wielding a knife.
A 911 caller reported a man who was walking on the beams of the Brooklyn Bridge at around 3:30 a.m. on Friday, according to Gerard Dowling, commanding officer of the NYPD's Emergency Services Unit.
The 911 call reported a man who appeared to be attempting to jump from the bridge, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement Friday.
At the scene, officers saw the man walking along the bridge cables, and Emergency Services Unit members climbed onto the cables and tried to speak with him for almost an hour, Dowling said.
Officers told him they were there to help and observed that he was holding a knife, Dowling said.
"He stated to them, 'I want to die. I want you to kill me. I have a bomb. You're not going to make me do something bad to the cops,'" Dowling said.
Officers worked to de-escalate the situation, urging the man not to jump, according to Mamdani.
After about an hour and following repeated commands by officers to drop his knife, the man began to work his way down the cable of the bridge, toward the officers, Dowling said.
They were not able to move away from him as quickly as he was approaching them. When he was within three feet of a member of the Emergency Services Unit, the man raised his knife-wielding arm, Dowling said.
Another officer located on the roadbed of the bridge opened fire, striking him, Dowling said.
Once down from the cables, officers began rendering aid. He was transported to Bellevue Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, Dowling said.
The entire incident was captured on body cameras, Dowling said. The identity of the man has not yet been released.
"As is standard when an NYPD officer discharges a firearm, the department will conduct an internal investigation, and body-worn camera footage will be released," Mamdani said.
This incident comes days after police fatally shot an apparently emotionally disturbed woman after she allegedly stabbed two people in Times Square in a "random and unprovoked" attack on Monday afternoon, authorities said.
One of the victims, 32-year-old Erin Piacenti of Chester, New Jersey, died at a hospital, according to the NYPD.
