AG Probes NYPD Fatal Shooting Of Man With Pellet Gun

NEW YORK CITY — An NYPD shooting last week of a man armed with what turned out to be an air gun is under investigation, state Attorney General's officials said Tuesday.

The probe will delve into the night of May 13, when NYPD officers crossed paths with a man in Hunts Point.

The man appeared to be holding a handgun, officials said. What happened next is outlined in the state Attorney General's Office of Special Investigation's announcement about the probe:

"After directing him to drop the gun, the officers fired. The civilian was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. The NYPD recovered an air gun at the scene."

The Attorney General's Office fully investigates every incident in which assess a police officer causes a death.

NYPD officials told Patch their own Force Investigation Division is looking into the shooting, as is routine.

"The NYPD will fully cooperate with the State Attorney General regarding this investigation," a police spokesperson said.

Police said the incident began with plainclothes narcotics detectives overhearing a fight and a man say he was going to his car to get a gun.

When police checked, they saw a man walking away from a pickup truck with what appeared to be a gun in his hand, said NYPD Assistant Chief Philip Rivera, the Bronx Borough Commander, at a news conference.

A detective wearing an NYPD badge and vest identified himself as a cop and told the man to stop, Rivera said.

Instead, the man raised his pellet gun, squeezed the trigger and fired a shot that nearly hit one of the officers in the head, officials said.

Cops shot 10 rounds and hit the man five times in the chest, killing him, police said.

Police discovered afterward the weapon wasn't a real handgun, but rather an airsoft pistol that fires nonlethal pellets, authorities said.

"For all intents and purposes, it looks like a semiautomatic firearm," said Deputy Chief Timothy McCormack.

Patch writer Megan VerHelst contributed to this report.