NYPD fatally shoots man on Roosevelt Avenue
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Police shot and killed a man who was reportedly holding a woman at knife point on Roosevelt Avenue over the weekend. Screenshot via NYPD
By Ryan Schwach
Officers from the NYPD shot and killed a man on Roosevelt Avenue over the weekend, marking the second time police have fatally shot a person in Queens in a month.
The man, who according to police was holding a woman at knifepoint on the busy intersection, is the third person killed in a police-involved shooting in Queens since early March. Police recently shot and killed 19-year-old Win Rozario, who was allegedly undergoing a mental health crisis, and NYPD Office Jonathan Diller died after getting into a gunfight with a suspect in Far Rockaway last month.
Early on Saturday morning, according to the NYPD, two cops saw an argument between a 65-year-old man and a 49-year-old woman just after 4 a.m. on Roosevelt near 103rd Street.
“They walk over to investigate and see a male with a knife, engaged in a dispute with a female,” NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said in a press conference.
The cops reportedly ordered the man to drop the knife, but he didn’t listen, according to Maddrey.
The police used a Taser, which Maddrey said didn’t work, then once again asked the man to drop the knife before firing at him.
The unidentified man was taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center, where he was pronounced dead. The woman was not injured and the two officers were taken to the hospital to be treated for tinnitus.
A small yellow knife was recovered at the scene, cops said.
Police currently do not know how the two individuals may have known each other.
“This investigation will continue,” Maddrey said, who said that there is a contingent of officers who work in the heavily trafficked Roosevelt Avenue area at night.
The shooting comes only a few weeks after the NYPD shooting of Rozario, an Ozone Park teen with mental health issues who had himself called emergency responders for help.
On March 27, Rozario was having a mental health crisis and called 911 around 1:40 p.m.
Two officers arrived at the two-family home around 103rd Street and 101st Avenue a few minutes later without the aid of a unit specifically tasked with responding to mental health calls, according to NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell.
Chell said the situation inside the kitchen of the second-story home quickly became “hectic, chaotic and dangerous right away.”
NYPD officials claim that the teenager reached into a drawer and pulled out a pair of scissors. He then began to move toward the police officers, police claim.
That’s when the officers both fired their Tasers at him, knocking him to the ground.
The teenager’s mother, who was also in the apartment, then ran over to her son, accidentally knocking the Tasers out of the teen’s body, police said.
The 19-year-old then allegedly grabbed the scissors, got up and began to move toward the officers again, according to Chell.
The officers then fired their guns at the teen. He was pronounced dead shortly after at a nearby hospital.
Just a few days before the Rozario shooting, another police-involved shooting in Queens resulted in the death of Officer Diller.
Diller, a 3-year veteran of the department, was carrying out a traffic stop in Far Rockaway with his partner when the suspect pulled out a weapon and shot him underneath his bullet proof vest.
Diller was rushed to Jamaica Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz has brought multiple charges against two suspects involved in the shooting – 41-year-old Lindy Jones, who was allegedly behind the wheel of the car, and 34-year-old Guy Rivera, who allegedly fired the fatal shot.
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to achieve that goal and to seek justice for Detective Diller and his loved ones,” said Katz in a statement.
In the Rozario shooting, New York State Attorney General Letitia James has launched an investigation – as she is required to by law – but has declined to give further details.
