NYPD brass defended on Wednesday the actions of two of New York’s Finest in the Brooklyn police-involved subway shooting on Sunday that left two bystanders wounded, along with a knife-wielding suspect and an officer.
Police officials challenged on Sept. 18 criticism from elected officials and criminal justice advocates that the NYPD’s fare evasion efforts contributed to the mayhem. They vowed to release the officers’ bodycam footage soon while affirming that the suspect’s actions forced police officers to open fire on him after all other efforts to subdue him, including utilizing Tasers, failed.
NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell told a room full of reporters inside police headquarters on Sept. 18 that the department regrets civilians were harmed in Sunday’s shooting, including a 59-year-old man who is suffering from brain damage.
“Just a tragic incident for everyone involved, and we wish everybody speedy recovery, our prayers are with everybody. We are human beings, we have families,” Chell said. “Our officers try everything to deescalate these situations, to help people through mental stress. But we are not perfect, and every situation is not the same.”
Chell revealed further details about the timeframe leading up to the infamous shooting of 37-year-old Derell Mickles at the Sutter Avenue station on the L line on Sept. 15, stating that the same cops who opened fire on him had a previous encounter with him about 10 minutes earlier.
“Mr. Mickels jumped the turnstile right in front of the two officers, at which time they followed them onto the staircase. They asked him to leave — they didn’t use any enforcement other than to ask him to leave, and Mr. Mickels left voluntarily back through the turnstile,” Chell said. “For some reason, when he left, he took that knife out and opened the blade as he was exiting the station.”
Chell then said Mickles allegedly returned to the station, this time passing in through an open gate. After that, the same cops followed the suspect and commanded him to show them his hands and to drop the knife. Police say he refused to comply and they pursued him aboard an arriving train.
“At this point, the knife now is open, the blade is exposed. This is an eight-inch knife,” Chell said. “Mr. Mickels charged one of the officers.”
The officers then attempted to immobilize Mickels with their Tasers, but that did not affect him. With the suspect still charging at them with a knife, the officers then deployed their handguns.
In the face of criticism about the NYPD’s fare enforcement efforts, Chell stressed Mickles’ evading the fare had nothing to do with why police shot him.
“I’m going to stress this again, this incident is not about fare evasion. This incident was about a person in mental stress armed with a deadly weapon,” Chell said.
As for the faulty Tasers, amNewYork Metro quizzed police on why the non-lethal devices did not function as designed on Sunday.
Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daugherty displayed the same tasers that the officers deployed that day. He explained that when deployed, the Tasers automatically activate all body camera footage within 50 feet.
Daugherty believes the metal prongs discharged became caught in Mickles’ shirt, stopping the electricity.
“He pulled out the props. Not only did he pull out the taser prongs, he pulled these directly out of his body. He froze up and pulled them out,” Daugherty declared. “We are working with Axon, and they are developing a new technology that we’re looking at where they I’m not going to say the exact model, but it’s supposed to be a little more effective.”
Meanwhile, police officials said that they had recovered the knife that they originally reported had been stolen from the scene. Cops say tracked homeless man to a nearby shelter and found it still on his person.
