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Police Fatally Shoot Man Who Hit Officer With Chair In Brownsville
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Oct 26, 2019
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Gothamist
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Oct 26, 2019
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Police fatally shot a man in a Brownsville on Friday, after he allegedly struck an officer in the head with a chair as cops were arresting another individual.
The deadly confrontation occurred inside a nail salon on Mother Gaston Boulevard near Sutter Avenue at around 5:30 p.m. Two uniformed cops were in the process of apprehending a man who'd urinated on the floor of the salon, when another individual, who'd been selling t-shirts outside, attempted to interfere in the arrest, police said.
The second man, identified by neighbors as Kwesi Ashun, allegedly swung a metal chair at one of the arresting officers, critically injuring him. After failing to subdue him with a Taser, the officer who was struck by the chair fired six shots at the man, according to Chief of Patrol Rodney Harrison. Ashun was pronounced dead at the scene.
The officer was placed in a medically-induced coma, and is expected to survive. [Update: he was released from the hospital on Monday]. "This incident underscores the dangers that our officers face each and every day," Harrison told reporters late Friday during a press conference at Brookdale Hospital.
Neighbors said Ashun was a mild-mannered t-shirt vendor, and a fixture on Mother Gaston Boulevard. "He doesn’t bother nobody," said Darryl Thompson, a local resident. "He was starting his own business. He had business cards and everything. He was a quiet guy."
A member of Brownville Think Tank Matters, an anti-violence community group, said the man would let residents who didn't have cash buy shirts on credit. "He's a very good young brother," he said. "He talks about God a lot, he's a very spiritual person,"
Hours after the shooting, distraught family members of the victim expressed anger and shock about the lack of information coming from police. "They're not telling us anything, it's part of the frustration," State Senator Zellnor Myrie, who represents the district, told Gothamist as grieving relatives confronted the police.
"Right now, there are more questions than answers," Myrie added in a follow-up statement. "While we are all praying for the family of the victim and the officer—and for peace in the community—we have questions that can only be answered by video of what happened. It is my hope that a thorough and swift investigation is conducted so that the families and community at large know what happened inside that nail salon.”
Law enforcement officials did not immediately say whether they would release body camera footage from the incident.
Five people have been killed by NYPD officers in the last month, according to department statistics. There have been 11 deadly police shootings this year—the most since the NYPD began tracking fatal police shootings in 2015.
"It feels like for the last month they've been going crazy," said Aisha Little, a Brownsville resident. "The boy didn't have a weapon or nothing. It's not necessary to shoot him."
UPDATE: The police officer who was struck by a metal chair has emerged from the medically-induced coma and was released from the hospital on Monday. The officer has been identified as Lesly Lafontan, a veteran of the department for 21 years.
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Jake Offenhartz
Jake Offenhartz is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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