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14:59, 03-Dec-2017
Mentally ill suspect is shot and killed by two policemen in New York
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The New York Police Department (NYPD) released footage on Wednesday that shows two policemen shooting dead a knife-wielding man who had just stabbed two security guards at the Urban Pathways mental illness center, a nonprofit organization that offers supportive housing for mentally ill and homeless people in New York's Bronx district
The encounter happened on November 13 when guards Kathy Hope, 48, and Michelle Sutton, 29, were stabbed at the Hughes House on Hughes Avenue and East 178th Street in Tremont at around 7:45 p.m., according to a Daily News report.
The suspect, Cornell Lockhart, 67, lived in the mental illness center since 2011. /Ifeng Photo
The suspect, Cornell Lockhart, 67, lived in the mental illness center since 2011. /Ifeng Photo
The suspect, Cornell Lockhart, 67, lived in the mental illness center since 2011 and had a history of mental illness. In the video, he is dressed in a red jacket and white pants and waves his arms in a circular motion, after realizing he had stabbed two guards in the lobby. The police arrived and found the suspect by using the building's surveillance video.
The video footage shows the two policemen - Shawn Loftus and Nicole Kraus - about 10 feet (3.048 meters) away from Lockhart, yelling at him 19 times to drop the weapon, which he was carrying in his right hand. Lockhart could be heard shouting “shoot me”, and then he closed in on the police. Loftus fired six times and Krause three times. Lockhart was shot several times and fell next to a pool of blood.
The suspect, Cornell Lockhart, dressed in a red jacket and
white pants and waved his arms in a circular motion. /Ifeng Photo
The suspect, Cornell Lockhart, dressed in a red jacket and white pants and waved his arms in a circular motion. /Ifeng Photo
The NYPD would not say if the shooting was justified or not, but the police’s behavior was criticized by local non-profit organizations that focus on mental health due to their belief that the police should not attack people suffering from mental illnesses, Ifeng News reported.
Lockhart was in the “zone of safety” in the video meaning the police could maintain and control the suspect. Sutton and Hope were stabbed in the arms and chest but received no life-threatening injuries. The internal investigation is on going.