Police fatally shoot man in Queens after he refused to drop gun, NYPD says

Police fatally shot a man in Queens on Tuesday night after he approached a precinct station house, pointed a gun at an officer outside and refused repeated commands to drop the weapon, according to the NYPD.

Chief of Patrol Philip Rivera said during a press conference late Tuesday that the man, 79, had parked his car near the 111th Precinct building on 215th Street and Northern Boulevard in Bayside around 6:40 p.m. The man got out of the car and walked to the building, where he began speaking with a uniformed officer, Rivera said.

During the conversation, the man suddenly pulled out a gun and pointed it at the officer, Rivera said. The officer ordered the man to drop the weapon and additional officers soon joined to try to de-escalate the situation, according to the police account of events.

Rivera said the man ignored their commands, and four officers opened fire, striking him several times. The man, whom the NYPD has not publicly identified, was transported to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Officers recovered a loaded revolver at the scene, according to Rivera. The chief said police were still investigating why the man came to the station house and exactly how his conversation with the officer led to the shooting. The NYPD’s force investigation division will analyze footage of the incident from surveillance and police body cameras, Rivera said.

It was the city’s second police shooting in a day, following an incident on the Lower East Side during which the NYPD said a man who was wanted under a search warrant barricaded himself inside an apartment and shot at officers, who then returned fire. Both the man and a detective were injured in the exchange but were expected to survive.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in a statement Tuesday night that the two shootings were “a stark reminder of the dangerous situations our officers face.”

The 79-year-old man was the first person to be shot and killed by NYPD officers so far this year, according to data compiled by Gothamist. More than a dozen people were fatally shot by police citywide last year, the highest number since 2012, when police shot and killed 16 people, the data shows.

This is a developing story based on preliminary information from police and may be updated.