A 55-year-old gun-wielding man was shot dead by police in an apparent act of suicide-by-cop in the parking lot of a Staten Island Home Depot Thursday morning, authorities and sources said.
The armed man was inside a black Jeep Wrangler around 5:20 a.m. when he called 911 on himself from the parking lot just outside at the Bricktown Center at Charleston shopping center on Veterans Road West, according to cops and sources.
“Our uniformed officers responded to the location in marked and unmarked police vehicles, and as they arrived, they heard multiple shots being fired,” Assistant Chief Melissa Eger, commanding officer of Patrol Borough Staten Island, told reporters.
The gunman was indiscriminately firing shots in the air when cops pulled up, sources said.
“The officers tactically positioned themselves around their police vehicles and immediately verbally engaged with the male,” Eger said. “Multiple officers repeatedly instructed him to show his hands and drop his firearm, which is all confirmed on body-worn camera footage.”
“The male did not comply and pointed the firearm at the officers,” the police official said. “Five uniformed officers discharged their firearms. The male was struck numerous times.”
The officers then “performed life-saving measures” on the man, before EMS workers brought him to Staten Island University North Hospital, where he died, Eger said.
The officers who were involved were also hospitalized “for further evaluation,” Eger said.
A Smith and Wesson .38 caliber revolver, as well as numerous shell casings and live ammunition, were recovered from the scene, according to Eger.
The tense ordeal was captured on both body-worn camera footage and multiple security cameras, Eger said.
It is being investigated by the NYPD’s Force Investigation Division, she added.
“Once again, our officers confronted a dangerous and armed individual and attempted to deescalate the situation multiple times, and that’s exactly what they are trained to do,” Eger said.
The gunman, of Cypress Hills, Brooklyn, has two unsealed arrests from 1992 and 1994, one of them for forgery, according to sources.
The Thursday morning shooting was the second apparent case of suicide by cop in less than a a month.
A 79-year-old man – who was reported missing out of Nassau County – was fatally shot by officers when he refused to drop his firearm outside the 111th Precinct in Bayside, Queens the evening of Feb. 18, police and sources said at the time.
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are experiencing a mental health crisis and live in New York City, you can call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free and confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside the five boroughs, you can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.