Newly released video footage of New York City police officers opening fire on a knife-wielding man at a Brooklyn subway station did not quell anger over their inadvertent shooting of two bystanders, including one who was hit in the head during the burst of gunfire.
The police made the edited, 17-minute video public on Friday amid substantial criticism of the shooting. The graphic footage, captured by cameras worn by the two officers and other cameras in the station and on a subway car, shows a confrontation that began with a man entering the system without paying and two officers forcing him to leave.
That initial encounter ended with the man, Derrell Mickles, going out through the turnstile while holding what appears to be an open folding knife in his right hand while the officers follow him at a short distance, the video shows. A second encounter that began about 10 minutes later ended with Mr. Mickles, an officer and the two bystanders wounded.
The shooting, at the Sutter Avenue L station last Sunday, is being examined by the Police Department’s Force Investigation Division and the Brooklyn district attorney’s office. Police leaders and Mayor Eric Adams have said the shooting was justified under the department’s rules because Mr. Mickles had a weapon and threatened the officers with it.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTBut critics have accused the police of overreacting in a dangerous way and escalating what began as the enforcement of the minor offense of fare evasion into unnecessary violence. Those critics include the family of the man who was shot in the head, Gregory Delpeche.
Mr. Delpeche, a 49-year-old city hospital worker, remained in critical condition on Friday. Minutes after the footage was released, his family huddled around a phone near the Sutter Avenue station and watched the video for the first time before holding a news conference.
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