Man Holding Pipe Shot Dead By Cops In Crown Heights, NYPD Says

CROWN HEIGHTS, NY — A man was shot and killed by police officers at a Crown Heights intersection as they responded to reports of a person holding a gun, officials said. The weapon turned out to be a metal pipe.

The NYPD received three 911 calls at about 4:40 p.m. reporting Saheed Vassell, 34, was waving a gun at people walking on the street near Montgomery Street and Utica Avenue, Chief of Department Terence Monahan said at a briefing in the NYPD's 77th Precinct.

Five officers arrived on the scene — three plain clothes and two in uniform — when Vasell "took a two-hand shooting stance" and pointed a metal object at them, Monahan said. The cops fired 10 rounds at Vassell and he was taken to Kings County Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Afterward, officers determined the object wasn't a gun but a metal pipe with a knob at the end of it, Monahan said. Monahan said the responding cops weren't wearing body cameras at the time of the shooting, but said security cameras from the scene showed Vassell pointing the object at them.

Several officers were also treated for minor injuries, police said.

Family and friends of Vassell said he suffered from bipolar disorder and was well known to residents and cops in the area.

"[Vassell would] just walk around the neighborhood and help people," Eric Vassell, his father, told the New York Times.

Other Crown Heights residents said Vassell had several run-ins with officers before and they should have known he was non-violent.

"All he did was just walk around the neighborhood," Andre Wilson, who knew Vassell for years, told the New York Daily News. "He speaks to himself, usually he has an orange Bible or a rosary in his hand. He never had a problem with anyone."

New Yorkers plan to rally on the corner where Vassell was shot on Thursday night to protest his death.

Lead image: The pipe police said the man was holding, courtesy of the NYPD