The mother of Christian Emile, a man whom police fatally shot in Brooklyn earlier this year, denounced newly released surveillance footage on the NYPD’s YouTube channel showing him being gunned down.
Last week, the NYPD released a new video of Emile’s death. The 33-year-old was shot by police on Mother’s Day, May 12, on Church Avenue in East Flatbush. At the time, police brass said patrolling cops spotted Emile pointing a gun at another man. Cops intervened and said they deployed a Taser that stunned Emile.
Emile, however, did not drop the firearm after being Tased — leading officers to open fire with their guns, police sources said.
His mother, Tarnisha Woolard, told amNewYork Metro Monday that she believes the officers involved could have handled things without killing her son, who was shot in the back as he attempted to run away.
“That’s the most devastating part about it, the thing that we see, he’s never, he’s never a threat to you and you were in arms distance, you could have pushed him down,” Woolard said. “That says to me that somewhere, the training is not correct.”
Police defended the deadly incident, stating that Emile put officers at risk by brandishing the firearm — something that PBA President Patrick Hendry continued to contend.
“The bottom line is that this individual was not only carrying a gun, he was wildly waving that gun around on the street, putting both police officers and civilian bystanders at risk. Our police officers were forced to respond to that threat,” Hendry said.
Emile’s mother also pointed out that the death of her son shared eerily similarities to the now infamous police-involved subway shooting on Sutter Avenue in East New York, Brooklyn on Sept. 15.
In the Emile shooting, one officer alleged to have fired at least five shots that smashed through nearby windows, with one bullet injuring a bystander.
On Sept. 15, two Brooklyn transit cops shoot knife-wielding fare evader Derell Mickles in the Brownsville station. During the chaos, two civilians and one cop, along with Mickles, were hit with shots. One bystander suffered a brain injury.
Both incidents make clear, in Woolard’s mind, that the NYPD needs to step up its training and help officers de-escalate situations without resorting to potentially lethal force.
“What we have to realize is that this is happening in our communities, and there’s something that’s missing because my son’s situation and that train situation is the same thing,” Woolard said. “You have these officers just out there and they’re just shooting, and and shooting, and shooting, and shooting. They’re not making sure of other people in the surroundings.”
Police brass continued to defend on Monday the response to the controversial subway shooting. During an appearance on NY1, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Tarik Shepherd charged that the cops faced off with a man holding a deadly weapon and were forced to make a choice.
“I think there’s only two choices here. You’re dealing with somebody who is armed with a knife. You’re dealing with them in close quarters. Anybody that knows about the use of force knows that a knife in close quarters is probably the most dangerous thing you can be dealing with as a police officer. They tried to use their tasers, it did not work,” Shepherd said.
Woolard pushed back by criticizing the way Mayor Eric Adams and top police brass defended the officers’ actions in her case and the subway incident.
“I don’t think you have to keep watching videos over and over again to let you know that retraining needs to be done. Clearly this keeps happening,” Woolard said. “It doesn’t take another situation. You don’t have to sit after every situation and say the same thing. They’re talking about it, but they’re not doing it.”
Both Woolard and the family attorney, MK Kaishian of Kaishian & Mortazavi LLC, also condemned back the NYPD Force Investigation Division for failing to keep an open dialogue throughout the process.
“There is not a lot of transparency as those investigations are conducted. So for example, though the family was permitted to view the footage that was ultimately released by the NYPD, there was no communication in advance of that release,” Kaishian said.
