Hundreds gathered in Crown Heights amid swelling outrage over the death of a man who was shot and killed by police, who’d mistaken a pipe he was holding for a gun. Checkey Beckford reports.
What to Know
- A report says police officers were "legally justified" in the killing of Saheed Vassell
- Vassell was wielding a piece of pipe like a gun on a New York City street when NYPD officers opened fire
- The report said the victim had a history of mental illness, but the officers didn't know about it
Police officers were "legally justified" in the killing of a man they said was wielding a piece of pipe like a gun on a New York City street, according to a report on the shooting released Friday.
The review by the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James cleared New York Police Department officers who opened fire on Saheed Vassell in response to reports of an armed man menacing people on the streets of Brooklyn in 2018.
The report said the victim had a history of mental illness, but the officers didn't know about it. It also cited transcripts of 911 calls from witness saying that Vassell was pointing an object that appeared to be a pistol.
Security videotape released by police shortly after the incident showed the 34-year-old man raising the object in a two-handed shooting stance moments before officers unleashed 10 shots that left him dead. His weapon turned out to be an L-shaped section of pipe from a welding tool.
The killing sparked unrest by protesters saying it was another example of an unarmed black man dying at the hands of police officers.
Vigil and protest for the life of Saheed Vassell, the unarmed man that was shot by NYPD yesterday afternoon in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. #saheedvassell #NYPD pic.twitter.com/HPpPFw6ZHC
— Farnoush Amiri (@farnoushava) April 5, 2018
Justice for Shaheed at Utica & Montgomery #SaheedVassell pic.twitter.com/bA5P8kapEb
— Do They Owe Us a Liminal Space? (@_1134) April 5, 2018
No justice. No peace. #SaheedVassell pic.twitter.com/ztCsUDPdQK
— howitzer of mercy ����☠️ (@girlziplocked) April 5, 2018
Crowd for #SaheedVassell grows in Crown Heights on Utica and Montgomery. Numerous marches taking place today. Will be live around 7. pic.twitter.com/i21eKHCh2b
— 80-year-old Antifa (@StopMotionsolo) April 5, 2018
Linda Sarsour on the mic. #SaheedVassell #CrownHeights pic.twitter.com/QaRtRS2uVf
— Rusty Ryan (@Radio_Reem) April 5, 2018
Huge turn out here in Crown Heights rallying against the NYPD killing of #SaheedVassell #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/mFbRIQqwi2
— Emma Caterine ��⚖️�� (@EmmaCaterine) April 5, 2018
There was no immediate response to a message left Friday seeking comment from a lawyer for Vassell's family.
In a statement, Police Commissioner James O'Neill said the NYPD would consider recommendations by the attorney general to improve how it responses to similar situations.
"The death of Mr. Vassell was a tragedy that no police officer - or anyone - would ever want to occur," O'Neill said.
