(CNN)New York City police officers shot and killed a black man Wednesday after he pointed what they believed was a gun at them, authorities said.
After the shooting, officers discovered the man was holding “a pipe with some sort of knob on it,” Chief of Department Terence A. Monahan said at a news conference.
The incident started shortly before 5 p.m., when officers received 911 calls of a man aiming what callers described as a silver firearm at people in Brooklyn, Monahan said.
“Three different 911 callers described a man with a gun, pointing it at people on the streets,” he said.
When officers arrived at the scene, they found a man matching the description provided by the callers, Monahan said.
“The suspect then took a two-handed shooting stance and pointed an object at the approaching officers, two of whom were in uniform,” he said.
Four officers discharged their weapons, striking the man, Monahan said. They then gave him first aid and called for an ambulance to take him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
“It appears we fired 10 rounds between the four officers,” Monahan said. The unidentified officers, who were not wearing body cameras, discovered the metal pipe at the scene.
Brooklyn resident Eric Vassell told CNN affiliate NY1 that the victim was his 35-year-old son, Saheed Vassell.
Saheed Vassell had no access to guns and suffered from bipolar disorder, his father told the station.
“He’s polite, nice, he’s kind. He just comes and he goes,” Eric Vassell said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said he’s received a preliminary briefing on the shooting.
The incident comes weeks after Sacramento officers killed an African-American man who they say they believed was pointing a gun at them. A cell phone — but no weapon — was found at the scene following Stephon Clark’s shooting on March 18.
Clark’s killing has sparked weeks of protests and reignited calls for police reform.
In the wake of the shooting, California lawmakers proposed a drastic change that would limit the scenarios in which police officers can use deadly force. The bill would replace the “reasonable force” rule with a stricter “necessary force” standard.
The proposal also would establish that a homicide by an officer is “not justified if the officer’s gross negligence contributed to making the force ‘necessary,'” according to the proposal.
Honest mistake, dude must of had a death wish or deranged! If the callers mistook it for a gun, cops are humans too! They weren’t close enough to be sure it wasn’t a gun and given the split second decision, with him pointing it at the officers, their decision seems justifiable.
another Blackman dead, another protest …..round an roun we go smfh
met it comin like seh a cataracts dem police ya habbb???? cause everytime them claim is a “mistake” so wah dem blind??? dem nuh know wha gun look like??? this will never stop till dem start mek the polic liable for their “mistakes”
Not even that…so police mistake wallet fi gun…hand ina di pocket fi gun..a so dem nervous pan fi dem job??
Him lucky him get wah him deserve
needleyii dwlllll not everything we fi laff but…. maybe he did not take his meds,,, dangerous situation.. split secs decision yours 0r mine that’s how it is, the police were called, the name sounds like a one a we to rass, vassell, ERIC… AND dem name the pickney saheed whatever f**kin crosses name that we see some ppl with the name that mean us no good. is that African??? the warra nyrere, nene, shenene, all the fcked up names that cause problems when ppl go look corporate wuk kmt
The police made the right decision
same rass claaat Eric is Jamaican him son mussi born up deh American,,, kmt weh him puppa did deh kmt, nice lookin young man
RIP Shredda jah know he was sick and I watched the videos and yes he was taunting the pedestrians and by standers BUT he didnt deserve 9 shots smh