New York shooting: Man fatally shot on Brooklyn Bridge after ignoring orders to drop weapon

A knife-wielding man walking along the cables of New York’s Brooklyn Bridge was fatally shot after moving within feet of an officer who was trying to help him climb down, police said.

Gerard Dowling, commanding officer of the New York Police Department’s Emergency Services Unit, said officers spoke with the man for about an hour. They repeatedly told him to drop the knife and tried to bring him down safely. The man allegedly told the rescue team to kill him and claimed he had a bomb.

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The officers spoke to him for about an hour... they wanted to help him and bring him down and told him to drop the knife multiple times. The officers began to move backwards away from the male when he began to climb down, but were not able to move as quickly as the subject, who was approaching them.

As the man began climbing down, officers moved backward, but Dowling said they could not move quickly enough. The man came within three feet of an officer and raised his arm with the knife extended toward him. Another officer then fired once. The rescue team brought the man down, and he later died at a hospital.

Police body cameras recorded the encounter. When a reporter asked whether officers had found a bomb, Dowling said that remained part of the investigation. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said officers had responded to a 911 call about a man who appeared to be attempting to jump from the bridge. He said the NYPD would conduct an internal investigation and release body-camera footage.

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As is standard when an NYPD officer discharges a firearm, the department will conduct an internal investigation, and body-worn camera footage will be released.