NYPD Housing Officers Beaten With Baton In Brooklyn, Suspect Shot And Killed
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Two NYPD housing police officers were struck in the head with a metal police baton during a scuffle with a man inside a housing development in Brownsville, Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon.
The male and female uniformed officers were responding to a 911 call about a suspicious man at 362 Sutter Avenue in the Van Dyke housing development around 1:10 p.m. when they encountered the man in a 9th floor hallway, NYPD Housing Chief James Secreto said.
The officers approached the man, asking for identification, and a scuffle ensued, police said. The male officer took out his baton, but the suspect got a hold of it and repeatedly hit both officers over the head, Secreto said.
The male officer suffered a two-inch gash.
Both officers were taken to Jamaica Hospital in stable condition where they were visited by the mayor and police commissioner.
The officers shot the man several times and he was pronounced dead at the scene, Secreto said.
The father and sister of the man killed, who they identified as 21-year-old Erickson Gomez Brito, told CBS2's Christine Sloan they need more details on his death.
"I want to know why they killed him, why they are always killing. What the hell do they think we are? We want justice for my brother," Omahis Gomez Brito said.
They said he dealt with depression and some sort of addiction years ago, but he was not on medication.
"He's been fine, he's had no problems with nobody. He has not gotten into police problems, as far as we know, he's been good," she said.
An investigation is underway into whether the shooting was justified.
