(HorizonPost.com) – The NYPD over the weekend released body cam footage from an officer-involved shooting in December that shows the officer firing the single shot that killed a suspect as he held his mother in a chokehold, the New York Post reported.
The incident occurred on December 23 when NYPD officers responded to what was reported as “a family call for help” at a Bronx apartment building.
When officers arrived at the scene at approximately 11:20 a.m., a young woman exited the apartment with what appeared to be knife wounds to her face.
The officers entered the apartment where they found a man, later identified as Michael Dotel, 30, holding his mother in a headlock and threatening her with a large knife.
According to responding officers, the suspect’s mother, who was injured and bleeding, said that her son had gone crazy and had tried to kill her. The officers said Dotel was threatening to kill his entire family and then himself.
After ordering Dotal to drop the knife multiple times, one of the officers fired and hit him in the head. Dotel was taken to a nearby hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
While it was unclear what prompted the incident, the NYPD said there was a history of domestic violence calls to the apartment.
In the body cam footage released on Saturday, Dotel is seen urging NYPD Officer Alex Morgese to shoot him, warning Morgese that if he didn’t shoot, he would kill his mother.
Morgese tells Dotel to drop the knife. When Dotel refuses, Morgese tells him again to drop the knife. Seconds later, Morgese fires.
The Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation announced on December 28 that it was investigating the officer-involved shooting. That investigation is still ongoing.
The husband of Dotel’s mother told the New York Post that he was near Officer Morgese at the time and said he had no choice but to fire the shot.
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