Cops shoot man who refused to drop gun in East Harlem
Cops shot and killed a gun-toting suspect in East Harlem early Sunday morning, police sources said.
The NYPD was called to the Washington NYCA houses on the corner of Third Avenue and 104th Street just after 12:30 a.m. for reports of a man with a gun, officials said.
Sources said the suspect, a 62-year-old man, refused to drop the weapon despite multiple warnings by responding officers.
That’s when a cop fired a single round at the man, striking him in the torso and leg, per sources.
A witness told Loudlabs News NYC that they heard one solitary shot followed by a series of responding shots, which he attributed to the police.
“If he had a gun, if he didn’t have a gun and they thought it was a gun, what’s wrong with the tasers? Why you can’t use the taser? Why you always have to go for the goddamn gun when you got a taser,” the man, who did not provide his name, said.
EMS gave the suspect CPR before transporting him to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Witnesses said the suspect was a black man.
A gun was recovered from the scene, cops said.