A pair of fatal shootings by NYPD officers on Thursday brought fresh attention to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s proposal to create a new Department of Community Safety which would deploy civilian workers to people having mental health emergencies in place of cops.
Both of the victims killed by police Thursday showed signs they had mental health issues, but NYPD officials said each situation escalated to the point where the officers at each scene used deadly force.
In the first incident, police shot and killed a man who was reportedly wielding a piece of a broken toilet inside Brooklyn Methodist Hospital in Park Slope around 5:30 p.m. Police said he barricaded himself in a room and attempted to harm an elderly patient and a member of the hospital’s security staff. Roughly five hours later in the West Village, police shot and killed a man who pointed a fake gun at them.
“ Last night, officers were placed in incredibly difficult and dangerous circumstances. The actions they took, they responded swiftly,” Mamdani said at an unrelated press event in Brooklyn Friday morning. "I will always emphasize, when someone has been killed, the need for a thorough investigation — as is our current process — and we are going to work to ensure the safety of both officers and New Yorkers at large.”
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