Police Shoot Knife-Wielding Man on Brooklyn Bridge After He Approached Officer
A man armed with a knife was shot by police on the Brooklyn Bridge after ignoring commands to drop the weapon and moving within three feet of an officer, later dying in hospital.
Police officers fatally shot a man carrying a knife on the cables of the Brooklyn Bridge on Friday after he refused repeated orders to surrender the weapon and closed to within three feet of an officer, authorities said. The incident, captured on body-camera footage, prompted the closure of the bridge and traffic delays for several hours.
The Emergency Services Unit, which had secured itself to the bridge with safety harnesses, spent about an hour attempting to persuade the man to come down safely. Commanding officer Gerard Dowling said the suspect told rescuers he wanted to be killed and claimed to have a bomb, though no explosive was found.
When the man began descending a cable quickly, officers moved backward but could not keep pace. As he approached an officer, he raised his arm with the knife extended. One officer on the bridge roadbed then fired a single shot, striking the man, who was later taken to a hospital where he died.
Dowling noted that the unit is specially trained for high-risk situations and receives extensive instruction on de-escalation and compassionate engagement. Police also recovered a flashlight at the scene. The man's identity was not released.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said officers responded to a 911 call about a person appearing to attempt a jump from the bridge, and that they tried to de-escalate before the shooting occurred. The Brooklyn Bridge, a historic suspension bridge connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn, was temporarily closed while the investigation continued.