Queens man shot by cops during mental health crisis takes legal action

Police shot Maspeth resident Luis Padilla Jr. after he took out a knife during a mental health crisis on Jan. 8. He survived and has taken legal action preceding a lawsuit against the NYPD. Image via NYPD

By David Brand

A 41-year-old Maspeth man is taking legal action against the NYPD after police shot him in the back inside his home during a mental health crisis response earlier this year.

Luis Padilla Jr. was shot Jan. 8 after he took out a knife while talking with at least four cops inside his 64th Street home. Police visited the house after a 911 caller said Padilla was “hallucinating” and “destroying the basement” in search of a man he thought was in the pipes. Padilla had recently left Elmhurst Hospital and was experiencing mental health problems while carrying a knife, the caller said.

Body-worn camera footage from the responding officers shows Padilla becoming increasingly distressed as he speaks with the police while standing next to a stack of car tires in his basement apartment. One officer, Stephen Sheehan, suggested Padilla talk with EMS.

“I’m not going back to the fucking hospital,” Padilla exclaimed before pulling the large knife from under his t-shirt, the video shows.

Another officer, Ryan McMahon, used a taser to subdue Padilla, but Sheehan fired two bullets that struck Padilla in the back while he lay at the bottom of his basement steps, according to the NYPD and a petition filed by Padilla in Queens Supreme Court. Another unidentified man in the basement had attempted to calm Padilla and prevent officers from firing their guns. 

Then-Chief of Department Terence Monahan said in January that Sheehan shot Padilla after he “lunged” at another officer. Media reports following the shooting relied on Monahan’s description.

But the body-worn camera footage released by the NYPD Monday does not appear to show Padilla lunging at anyone before Sheehan opened fire. 

Padilla survived the shooting and filed a petition in Queens Supreme Court on March 4, charging the officers with using “excessive force.” 

“Excessive force was used upon me when I was shot in the back by Police Officers,” Padilla wrote in the petition filed in Queens March 4. 

He is represented by Brooklyn attorney Scott Rynecki, who asked Queens Supreme Court Justice Tracy Catapano-Fox to order the NYPD to release the names of the officers who responded to the 911 call. The petition indicates that Padilla would file a lawsuit after learning the names of the officers. 

Catapano-Fox issued the order on April 8, four days before the NYPD posted the body-worn camera footage from the shooting on YouTube.

The incident highlights lawmakers’ and advocates' demands for social workers to accompany police on mental health calls. 

At least one officer is heard on tape telling Padilla that he knew him from previous visits to the home. He reminded Padilla of a recent incident when Padilla “took, like, a little too much drugs and started freaking out.” 

Padilla responded that he had not used drugs and feared he sounded “crazy” to the officers surrounding him.

“I was fine at the hospital and I got home and things just started changing,” Padilla said. He told officers he had sensed a strange smell and that he believed his phone was hacked. 

“With everything else going on it makes me seem like I’m crazy,” he added.

Rynecki did not respond to requests for comment for this story. 

A spokesperson for the city Law Department declined to comment on the petition. An NYPD spokesperson said the department does comment on pending litigation. 

The Civilian Complaint Review Board said they have received at least one complaint related to the police shooting. 

Sheehan, the cop who shot Padilla, has had one complaint filed against him for allegedly using a chokehold that restricted a person’s breathing in 2018. The CCRB did not substantiate that complaint. 

Padilla was charged with one count of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.