AG releases video of police shooting of 79-year-old outside of Bayside precinct
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Emil Williams standing outside the 111th Precinct before he was shot by police officers for allegedly taking out and refusing to drop a gun. Screenshot via the Office of Special Investigation
By Noah Powelson
The New York attorney general’s office last week released videos of a deadly police shooting outside a Queens precinct as an investigation into the shooting continues.
The AG’s Office of Special Investigation released footage taken from building surveillance and police body-worn cameras on Tuesday that showed the brief but deadly encounter police officers had with 79-year-old Emil Williams, who worked as a physician’s assistant in Long Island.
Williams was killed when he allegedly approached the 111th Precinct in Bayside with a gun on the evening of Feb. 18, 2025. Videos of the incident showed officers demanding Williams drop his guns before firing a barrage of bullets.
Chief of Patrol Phillip Rivera led a press conference the night the shooting occurred, and said they were still investigating the cause of Williams’ actions.
“He did not drop the firearm and unfortunately officers had to act,” Rivera said. “Four officers discharged their firearms; the male was struck numerous times.”
In the videos, Williams is seen approaching the front entrance of the 111th Precinct and speaking with an officer, who AGO identified as Officer Wright, who was standing guard out front. Williams stood in the road near a parked car while exchanging a few words with Wright. After a few seconds, Williams pulled out what appeared to be a firearm and Wright took cover behind a nearby cop car while motioning two civilians standing nearby to move away.
While there were several videos recording the incident, few recorded audio until the moments before the shooting began and it is not known what Williams and Wright said to each other. Police body cameras are constantly recording video, but do not record audio unless the officer activates it themselves. Officers are required to record audio when using force, making arrests, searching a person or interacting with people suspected of criminal activity. Footage from body cameras of three officers were released, but none recorded audio until guns were drawn.
The building’s surveillance camera recorded no audio at all.
Wright called for backup while repeatedly telling Williams to drop his weapon, video shows. Three other officers, two of whom were identified by the AG’s office as Officer Martinez and Officer Rawlins, quickly ran to the front entrance with their firearms drawn.
Rawlins ran behind another car parked nearby, while Martinez and the fourth officer stayed in the building entryway.
The four officers repeatedly shouted “Put down your gun!” at Williams. It’s unclear if Williams gave any verbal response during the tense moment.
From the footage, it is unclear who fired the first shot. Williams is seen pointing and extending what appears to be a pistol, but it is not clear if he fired a bullet during the encounter.
In the footage of Martinez and Wright, the sound of a gun being fired shortly followed by the sound of class breaking can be heard. In Rawlins’ footage, smoke from what appears to be gunfire can be seen coming from the police precinct entrance, which Rawlins winces in reaction to.
There was a few seconds delay from the first shot before all officers began firing at Williams. The glass doors of the precinct entrance were shattered by multiple gunshots. Martinez can be seen firing through the glass doors and over the shoulder of the fourth unidentified officer.
Body camera footage of the unidentified officer was not released.
It is not known how many times Williams was struck, but he collapsed quickly. An NYPD spokesperson said the officers performed CPR on the man before he was taken to the New York Presbyterian Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
NYPD said they retrieved a loaded .38 Cobra pistol from the scene. No officers were harmed in the shooting. Neither NYPD nor AGO spokespersons did not say if the gun had all the bullets still in the chamber when it was recovered.
Rivera said at the time of hte shooting that the NYPD did not have any previous encounters with the man and did not believe he had a criminal record.
“Our officers are confronted with extremely dangerous and unpredictable situations, and they attempted to deescalate this situation multiple times,” Rivera said.
The OSI is required to launch an investigation into every reported incident of a police officer, including a corrections officer, potentially causing the death of a person by an act or omission. The case still remains under active investigation.
“The release of this footage is not an expression of any opinion as to the guilt or innocence of any party in a criminal matter or any opinion as to how or whether any individual may be charged with a crime,” the AG’s office said in a press release.
