East Harlem, NY – A 62-year-old man was shot and killed by New York City police officers in East Harlem early Sunday morning after multiple 911 calls reported a person with a gun in the neighborhood, according to the NYPD.
The incident began when ShotSpotter activations and several emergency calls led to a significant police response along Third Avenue near East 103rd Street around 12:30 a.m. Officers quickly located the armed man near the George Washington Houses at 1875 Third Avenue.
NYPD Chief of Housing Martine Materasso stated that the officers repeatedly ordered the man to drop his weapon, but he did not comply. In response, two officers discharged their firearms, striking the man. Despite immediate CPR efforts and the arrival of EMS, the man was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. A gun was recovered at the scene, and there are no outstanding suspects.
A neighbor who witnessed the incident told CBS News New York that she called the police multiple times after seeing the man threaten her friends with a gun. “Unprovoked, and he just walks up and he’s, like, asking for drugs … and if he didn’t get the drugs, then I guess he was gonna go crazy,” she explained.
Other neighbors reported hearing the gunshots but initially mistook them for fireworks. Mike Montelongo, who recently moved to the area from Austin, Texas, said, “I literally thought it was fireworks.” The shooting occurred along his usual walking path, leading him to reconsider his new neighborhood.
The NYPD shared a photo of the recovered firearm on social media platform X, and the shooting remains under investigation. No other injuries were reported, and residents expressed relief that their calls for help potentially saved lives.