Video footage released by the New York City Police Department shows the moment a police officer kills a man with a single gunshot after restraining his mother while screaming “I have a knife” inside a Bronx apartment in December. .
During a tense standoff on December 23, police officer Alex Morghese fired one shot at Michael Dotel, hitting him in the head just inches from the victim’s face. to the image And the police.
The 30-year-old suspect fell backwards to the ground and was later pronounced dead at St. Barnabas Hospital.
Police initially responded to the scene in the Bedford Park neighborhood around 11:30 a.m. after receiving a 911 call of a suspect who was under the influence of drugs, violent and possibly armed with a knife, authorities said.
Police said Friday that Dotel put his right arm around the victim’s neck and strangled her, then put more pressure on her right arm with his left hand.
Police opened fire as the victim was losing consciousness, authorities said Friday.
New body camera footage released shows Dotel using his mother as a shield as he yelled at Morgese and his partner, “Do it, she’ll find out.”
“Shoot, shoot,” he yelled in the apartment’s living room as he continued to push the officers to do so, the video shows.
When Morgese asked him where the knife was and if he could drop it, Dotel replied, “I got the knife,” the video shows.
“Drop the knife, where is it,” Morgese said again seconds before firing the gun.
When police first arrived at the apartment, a young woman ran out of the apartment with cuts on her face, police said. Police said in December that two victims were injured in the violence.
Police initially said Dotel pointed a knife at his mother several hours after the shooting, but said a new statement now claims Dotel had a knife.
Photo of A large chisel found at the scene He was released by the authorities at the time. An email to the NYPD seeking clarification was not immediately returned Sunday night.
“Today was a complete tragedy for this holiday season,” NYPD Sergeant John Chell said at a news conference. Press conference at the time.
He praised the calmness of the two officers, adding that their actions saved the family’s life.
The victim’s husband echoed that sentiment, telling the Post that at the time police had no choice but to shoot Dotel.
“I was standing next to a police officer. He told him three times to (put down) the knife and let her go. He said, ‘Either kill me or I’ll kill her. ‘It’s one or the other,'” her husband previously said.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Public Affairs Carlos Nieves said in videotaped remarks Friday that an internal investigation into the shooting is underway.
Days after the shooting, the New York Attorney General’s Office We are also investigating the incident.
That investigation is ongoing, the AG’s office announced Sunday night.
Dotel had a history of mental illness and had three open criminal cases against him at the time of the shooting, police officials previously said.
