Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Family of bystander shot by NYPD at Brooklyn subway stop wants to see body cams
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Published Sep 18, 2024
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Courtesy of Gregory Delpeche's family
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Published Sep 18, 2024
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The family of a Brooklyn hospital worker who was left in critical condition after police opened fire and struck him in the head at a subway station is calling for an investigation of the shooting.
Family members say Gregory Delpeche, 49, was riding the L train on Sunday to Woodhull Hospital, where he works as an emergency room administrator. A witness told Gothamist that Delpeche was still on the train when NYPD officers shot at Derell Mickles, who police say evaded the fare at the Sutter Avenue station in Brownsville before threatening officers with a knife as they pursued him. A 26-year-old woman was also shot and injured in the chaotic confrontation, along with one of the officers.
“There's no reason why he should not make it to work,” Gregory Nougues, Delpeche’s cousin, said on Wednesday at a press conference in Brownsville. “I believe that the NYPD was reckless in dis[charging] their guns in front of citizens. And I think there should be an investigation.”
Nougues was joined by several other family members, lawyers and elected officials, who shed light on Delpeche’s condition and called for accountability from the city.
“We are here to ask for a full investigation,” said Nick Liakas, one of the attorneys representing Delpeche’s family. “We are here to ask that the NYPD and the interim commissioner release the body camera footage of those officers and allow the public the opportunity to see exactly what happened. We don't want to take their word for it because as it stands today, we do not have a fair and a true story and a full story of the events that happened.”
Some policing experts have questioned whether the officers were justified in firing their guns on a crowded subway platform and whether they first did enough to de-escalate the situation. NYPD officials said the officers tried to use a Taser on Mickles before shooting him, but the attempt proved “ineffective.”
Community and advocacy groups have also called for the city to release police body camera footage from the incident. The New York Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday said inconsistent and changing NYPD accounts about what happened to Mickles' knife — which police now say someone took from the scene — raise "more questions than answers."
Some members of the City Council have likewise said the footage should be released.
Protesters flooded the Sutter Avenue station on Tuesday evening, just hours after Mayor Eric Adams praised the officers who shot Mickles and the others for showing “a great level of restraint" during the confrontation.
"It's just unfortunate that innocent people were shot because of that," the mayor said at a media briefing at City Hall. "But they were shot because they had a dangerous repeated offender on our subway system.”
Delpeche on Wednesday was still in critical condition and sedated at Kings County Hospital, where doctors had to remove part of his skull to relieve the swelling in his brain, family members said.
Nougues said he “broke down” when he first saw his cousin at the hospital. Delpeche is not married and has no children, so his cousins said they are his closest family. Nougues described him as a “private person” who usually kept to himself, and added that they would often talk together about interests like cars and sports.
“I just want justice for him," said Delpeche's cousin Catheline Jeudy. "He’s going to pull through by God’s grace, but it should never have happened."
Liakas, the family's attorney, said Delpeche's relatives were “investigating the potential for a lawsuit.”
“It seems that the conduct certainly has risen to that level where accountability needs to be met here, and it may result in that,” he said. “But at this point, what we're seeking is the release of the body camera footage so we can properly investigate and make that determination.”
The NYPD said in a statement on Tuesday that Mickles had put the lives of police officers and bystanders at risk, and noted that the department’s force investigation division was looking into the incident.
Tagged
subway shooting
new york city
public safety
brooklyn
transportation
eric adams
Brittany Kriegstein
Brittany Kriegstein covers all breaking news around New York City, with a focus on crime and gun violence. Got a tip? Email Brittany at [email protected].
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 4:15 p.m. ET
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
By
Arya Sundaram
News
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
NYC nor’easter dries up after weather service reports minor flooding
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .