Police shoot, kill man in Crown Heights, NYPD says

Police shot and killed a man in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan said Wednesday. Photo Credit: Gregory Rutchik

Four police officers fatally shot a man who was brandishing a metal pipe on the street in Crown Heights Wednesday afternoon, police said.

The officers, three in plain clothes and one in uniform, shot Saheed Vassell, a 34-year-old Crown Heights resident, just after 4:40 p.m. near the corner of Montgomery Street and Utica Avenue, Chief of Department Terence Monahan said.

Police initially responded to at least three 911 calls of a man “pointing what is described as a silver firearm at people on the street,” Monahan said during a news conference near the scene. “All three calls say he is holding an object that appears to be a gun. They’re not sure, but it appears to be a gun.”

When police approached Vassell, he took “a two-handed shooting stance,” and pointed what appeared to be a firearm at the approaching officers, Monahan said.

A police officer talks with civilians following a fatal police-involved shooting in Crown Heights on Wednesday. Photo Credit: Vincent Barone

Monahan showed several photos of the encounter, including one that captured the suspect’s stance toward the officers, but said the officers were not equipped with body cameras.

The four officers fired about 10 rounds, according to Monahan.

Vassell was taken to Kings County Hospital Center where he was pronounced dead.

The area surrounding the shooting remained closed off to pedestrian and vehicular traffic several hours after the shooting, with a heavy police presence still visible and small crowds standing along the yellow police tape.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has been briefed on the incident, according to the mayor’s office.

One officer involved in the shooting was taken to an area hospital with minor injuries, and did not suffer any gunshot wounds, police said.