Black man wounded in police-involved shooting in Brooklyn
Police shot a 31-year-old black man after three cops claimed he waived his gun at them during a Sunday morning confrontation in the middle of a Brooklyn street.
After receiving 911 calls reporting shots fired and a ShotSpotter alert, one lieutenant and two officers spotted Paul Mathurin in middle of the street “menacing motorists” when they arrived at Lefferts and Rogers Aves. in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens at about 7:15 a.m., according to NYPD Assistant Chief Steven Powers.
“He was yelling in my direction,” recalled witness Brian Baragas. “And I swear to God, we locked eyes and he saw me see him and he was saying this over and over, ‘F--- you! f--- you! I’m going to shoot you.’”
“That’s when I started running and hid behind some cars,” said Baragas, 33, who was on his way to work and heard the initial gunshots.
De Blasio pleas for peace between police, communities in N.Y.
The responding officers identified themselves and ordered Mathurin to drop his 9-mm. handgun, the NYPD said.
But he refused as he yelled incoherently, Powers said.
That’s when a witness, who identified himself only as Cupid, said he heard a neighbor yell “Don't kill him!”
Police shot a 31-year-old black man after three cops claimed he waived his gun at them during a Sunday morning confrontation in the middle of a Brooklyn street.
After receiving 911 calls reporting shots fired and a ShotSpotter alert, one lieutenant and two officers spotted Paul Mathurin in middle of the street “menacing motorists” when they arrived at Lefferts and Rogers Aves. in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens at about 7:15 a.m., according to NYPD Assistant Chief Steven Powers.
“He was yelling in my direction,” recalled witness Brian Baragas. “And I swear to God, we locked eyes and he saw me see him and he was saying this over and over, ‘F--- you! f--- you! I’m going to shoot you.’”
“That’s when I started running and hid behind some cars,” said Baragas, 33, who was on his way to work and heard the initial gunshots.
De Blasio pleas for peace between police, communities in N.Y.
The responding officers identified themselves and ordered Mathurin to drop his 9-mm. handgun, the NYPD said.
But he refused as he yelled incoherently, Powers said.
That’s when a witness, who identified himself only as Cupid, said he heard a neighbor yell “Don't kill him!”
“(Mathurin) saw police coming and ran,” the 43-year-old witness added. “They told him to stop and he kept going.”
Brooklyn man, 25, shot to death in his apartment building
The police chased Mathurin down to the corner of Lefferts and Rogers Aves., according to Cupid, who saw the shooting from the window of his apartment at 416 Rogers Ave.
At the corner, he heard shots fired and someone scream “You all killing the next black man!”
The shooting comes shortly after two high-profile fatal shootings of unarmed African-American men at the hands of police — Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, La. early Tuesday morning and Philando Castile in Falton Heights, Minn. on Wednesday night.
The shooting also comes after five Dallas police officers were slain by a sniper during a protest Thursday night.
“We can’t afford a Texas here,” Cupid said. "My kids live out in Bay Ridge and now I'm scared for them.”
Paul Mathurin was wounded in the shooting.
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The three NYPD cops unloaded a barrage of 12 rounds — hitting Martin once in the hip, Powers told reporters gathered at the scene Sunday.
The race or identity of the three cops was not made public Sunday.
Police say Mathurin waived his gun at the officers. The NYPD is investigating if he pointed the gun directly at them, he added.
Cops retrieved the gun at the scene.
After the shooting, Cupid went downstairs and saw police standing around tending to a man on the ground.
“You see him on the floor and his legs shaking,” Cupid recalled.
The shooting took place at the intersection of Lefferts and Rogers Aves. in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn.
(MARC A. HERMANN/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
Mathurin was brought to Kings County Hospital, where he is expected to survive.
He has 16 prior arrests, including charges for drugs, assault, burglary and grand larceny, police sources said.
Cops were also notified about the man by the NYPD’s ShotSpotter system, which tips cops off to the location of gunfire, the NYPD said. The initial report was of shots fired at the corner of Sterling St. and Rogers Ave.
But one witness, a friend of Mathurin, contradicted the police version of events.
Mathurin was holding his phone in his hand and listening to music on headphones when cops opened fire, according to Kesha, a neighbor and friend, who declined to give her last name.
She says she saw the incident from her bedroom window overlooking the corner of Lefferts and Rogers Aves.
Mathurin, who was also known as “Smokey,” passed by a friend in middle of the street and then put his headphones on before the police approached, she said.
“The way they got him, he didn’t have a chance,” she said.
Police shot a 31-year-old black man after three cops claimed he waived his gun at them during a Sunday morning confrontation in the middle of a Brooklyn street.
After receiving 911 calls reporting shots fired and a ShotSpotter alert, one lieutenant and two officers spotted Paul Mathurin in middle of the street “menacing motorists” when they arrived at Lefferts and Rogers Aves. in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens at about 7:15 a.m., according to NYPD Assistant Chief Steven Powers.
“He was yelling in my direction,” recalled witness Brian Baragas. “And I swear to God, we locked eyes and he saw me see him and he was saying this over and over, ‘F--- you! f--- you! I’m going to shoot you.’”
“That’s when I started running and hid behind some cars,” said Baragas, 33, who was on his way to work and heard the initial gunshots.
De Blasio pleas for peace between police, communities in N.Y.
The responding officers identified themselves and ordered Mathurin to drop his 9-mm. handgun, the NYPD said.
But he refused as he yelled incoherently, Powers said.
That’s when a witness, who identified himself only as Cupid, said he heard a neighbor yell “Don't kill him!”
Police shot a 31-year-old black man after three cops claimed he waived his gun at them during a Sunday morning confrontation in the middle of a Brooklyn street.
After receiving 911 calls reporting shots fired and a ShotSpotter alert, one lieutenant and two officers spotted Paul Mathurin in middle of the street “menacing motorists” when they arrived at Lefferts and Rogers Aves. in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens at about 7:15 a.m., according to NYPD Assistant Chief Steven Powers.
“He was yelling in my direction,” recalled witness Brian Baragas. “And I swear to God, we locked eyes and he saw me see him and he was saying this over and over, ‘F--- you! f--- you! I’m going to shoot you.’”
“That’s when I started running and hid behind some cars,” said Baragas, 33, who was on his way to work and heard the initial gunshots.
De Blasio pleas for peace between police, communities in N.Y.
The responding officers identified themselves and ordered Mathurin to drop his 9-mm. handgun, the NYPD said.
But he refused as he yelled incoherently, Powers said.
That’s when a witness, who identified himself only as Cupid, said he heard a neighbor yell “Don't kill him!”
“(Mathurin) saw police coming and ran,” the 43-year-old witness added. “They told him to stop and he kept going.”
Brooklyn man, 25, shot to death in his apartment building
The police chased Mathurin down to the corner of Lefferts and Rogers Aves., according to Cupid, who saw the shooting from the window of his apartment at 416 Rogers Ave.
At the corner, he heard shots fired and someone scream “You all killing the next black man!”
The shooting comes shortly after two high-profile fatal shootings of unarmed African-American men at the hands of police — Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, La. early Tuesday morning and Philando Castile in Falton Heights, Minn. on Wednesday night.
The shooting also comes after five Dallas police officers were slain by a sniper during a protest Thursday night.
“We can’t afford a Texas here,” Cupid said. "My kids live out in Bay Ridge and now I'm scared for them.”
Paul Mathurin was wounded in the shooting.
(FACEBOOK)
The three NYPD cops unloaded a barrage of 12 rounds — hitting Martin once in the hip, Powers told reporters gathered at the scene Sunday.
The race or identity of the three cops was not made public Sunday.
Police say Mathurin waived his gun at the officers. The NYPD is investigating if he pointed the gun directly at them, he added.
Cops retrieved the gun at the scene.
After the shooting, Cupid went downstairs and saw police standing around tending to a man on the ground.
“You see him on the floor and his legs shaking,” Cupid recalled.
The shooting took place at the intersection of Lefferts and Rogers Aves. in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn.
(MARC A. HERMANN/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
Mathurin was brought to Kings County Hospital, where he is expected to survive.
He has 16 prior arrests, including charges for drugs, assault, burglary and grand larceny, police sources said.
Cops were also notified about the man by the NYPD’s ShotSpotter system, which tips cops off to the location of gunfire, the NYPD said. The initial report was of shots fired at the corner of Sterling St. and Rogers Ave.
But one witness, a friend of Mathurin, contradicted the police version of events.
Mathurin was holding his phone in his hand and listening to music on headphones when cops opened fire, according to Kesha, a neighbor and friend, who declined to give her last name.
She says she saw the incident from her bedroom window overlooking the corner of Lefferts and Rogers Aves.
Mathurin, who was also known as “Smokey,” passed by a friend in middle of the street and then put his headphones on before the police approached, she said.
“The way they got him, he didn’t have a chance,” she said.
