New York City police officers shot and killed a black man Wednesday after he pointed what they believed was a gun at them, authorities said.
NYPD released this photo of the pipe found at the scene.
The incident comes amid a resurgence of questions about unequal treatment of people of color by police following the police shooting in Sacramento, California, of a man who police said had a gun. Only a cell phone was found near his body.
After the fatal shooting in New York, officers discovered that their suspect had been holding "a pipe with some sort of knob on it," Chief of Department Terence A. Monahan said at a news conference.
New York's attorney general on Wednesday morning opened an investigation into the death of Saheed Vassell, said Amy Spitalnick, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
"We're committed to conducting an independent, comprehensive, and fair investigation," she told CNN.
By state law, the attorney general serves a special prosecutor to oversee investigations into and prosecute matters related to incidents in which unarmed civilians die during interactions with police or incidents in which there is significant question as to whether the civilian was armed and dangerous, Spitalnick said, citing the law.
'Two-handed shooting stance'
The incident started shortly before 5 p.m., when officers received 911 calls of a man aiming what callers described as a silver firearm at people in Brooklyn, Monahan said.
"Three different 911 callers described a man with a gun, pointing it at people on the streets," he said.
When officers arrived at the scene, they found a man matching the description provided by the callers, Monahan said.
"The suspect then took a two-handed shooting stance and pointed an object at the approaching officers, two of whom were in uniform," he said.
Four officers discharged their weapons, striking the man, Monahan said. They then gave him first aid and called for an ambulance to take him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
"It appears we fired 10 rounds between the four officers," Monahan said. The unidentified officers, who were not wearing body cameras, discovered the metal pipe at the scene.
'He's polite ... kind'
Brooklyn resident Eric Vassell told CNN affiliate NY1 that the victim was his 35-year-old son, Saheed.
Saheed Vassell had no access to guns and suffered from bipolar disorder, his father told the station.
"He's polite, nice, he's kind. He just comes and he goes," Eric Vassell said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said he's received a preliminary briefing on the shooting.
Renewed calls for police reform
Public fury over the shooting deaths of people of color by law enforcement, which gained traction through the Black Lives Matter movement, swelled again last month after police in Sacramento killed Stephon Clark, an unarmed, African-American father.
In light of Clark's killing, which sparked weeks of protests, California lawmakers have proposed a drastic change that would limit the scenarios in which police officers can use deadly force. The bill would replace the "reasonable force" rule with a stricter "necessary force" standard.
The proposal also would establish that a homicide by an officer is "not justified if the officer's gross negligence contributed to making the force 'necessary,'" according to the proposal.
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