Black man wounded in police-involved shooting in Brooklyn
Police shot a 31-year-old black man after he failed to drop his gun during a confrontation in the middle of a Brooklyn street Sunday morning, authorities and a witness said.
After receiving 911 calls reporting shots fired, 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.
The officers identified themselves and ordered Mathurin to drop his .9 mm handgun, Powers said.
But he refused as he yelled incoherently, the high-ranking department official said.
Police at the scene of Sunday’s shooting.
(Marc A. Hermann/for New York Daily News)
The three officers unloaded a barrage of 12 rounds, hitting Martin once in the hip, Powers told reporters gathered at the scene Sunday.
Police are “investigating” if Mathurin pointed his gun at the officers, he added.
Mathurin was brought to Kings County Hospital where he is expected to survive.
Paul Mathurin was wounded in the shooting.
(Facebook)
The Daily News was unable to speak with witnesses who were able to verify the police version of events.
Cops were also notified about the weapon wielding man by the NYPD’s ShotSpotter system, which tips cops off to the location of gunfire, the NYPD said.
Neighbors said that Mathurin was a law abiding man known as “Smokey.”
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)
“I’m on the phone with my friend when all of a sudden she screams, ‘Oh my god, they shot Smokey.’ I ran straight over from church,” Crystal Aaron, who lives near the scene, told the Daily News.
Another neighbor, who would only identify himself as Will, said he knew Smokey for 20 years and didn’t think he was shooting at police.
“I just heard a few shots, then all these cars and helicopters,” one neighbor, who would only identify himself as Will, told the Daily News. “They say he was shooting in the air, but that doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t know why Smokey would have been shooting at cops.”
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, Louisiana early Tuesday morning and Philando Castile in Falton Heights, Minnesota on Wednesday night.
The shooting also comes after five Dallas, Texas police officers were slain by a sniper during a protest Thursday night.
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Black man wounded in police-involved shooting in Brooklyn
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