N.Y.P.D.’s Release of Subway Shooting Footage Doesn’t Quell Anger

After seeing video of officers firing at a knife-wielding man, the cousin of a bystander who was badly hurt in the shooting continued to criticize the police.

Newly released video footage of New York City police officers opening fire on a knife-wielding man at a Brooklyn subway station did not quell anger over their inadvertent shooting of two bystanders, including one who was hit in the head during the burst of gunfire.

The police made the edited, 17-minute video public on Friday amid substantial criticism of the shooting. The graphic footage, captured by cameras worn by the two officers and other cameras in the station and on a subway car, shows a confrontation that began with a man entering the system without paying and two officers forcing him to leave.

That initial encounter ended with the man, Derrell Mickles, going out through the turnstile while holding what appears to be an open folding knife in his right hand while the officers follow him at a short distance, the video shows. A second encounter that began about 10 minutes later ended with Mr. Mickles, an officer and the two bystanders wounded.

The shooting, at the Sutter Avenue L station last Sunday, is being examined by the Police Department’s Force Investigation Division and the Brooklyn district attorney’s office. Police leaders and Mayor Eric Adams have said the shooting was justified under the department’s rules because Mr. Mickles had a weapon and threatened the officers with it.

But critics have accused the police of overreacting in a dangerous way and escalating what began as the enforcement of the minor offense of fare evasion into unnecessary violence. Those critics include the family of the man who was shot in the head, Gregory Delpeche.

Mr. Delpeche, a 49-year-old city hospital worker, remained in critical condition on Friday. Minutes after the footage was released, his family huddled around a phone near the Sutter Avenue station and watched the video for the first time before holding a news conference.

After seeing the video, Greg Nougues, Mr. Delpeche’s cousin, said the explanations from police leaders and the mayor about why officers had fired their guns did not make sense. The footage does not show how Mr. Delpeche and the second bystander, a 26-year-old woman who was grazed by a bullet, were shot.

“I just don’t understand how the mayor can say that this is justified,” Mr. Nougues said.

The events that led to the shooting began at around 3 p.m. with Mr. Mickle’s first attempt at evading the fare, the footage shows. Two officers, Edmund Mays and Alex Wong, follow him into the station, and he leaves moments later with what appears to be a knife in his hand, the footage shows. (Just after he jumps the turnstile, two other people are seen entering without paying.)

Police officials have said that the officers asked him to leave, that he complied and that it was in connection with this interaction that they became aware he had the knife. The footage released on Friday does not make it clear when they made that realization.

Minutes later, the footage shows, Mr. Mickles returns to the station, lingering near the emergency gate briefly before walking through it as someone comes out. The officers follow him through the gate and up the stairs to the platform.

“Careful, he has a knife in his hand,” Officer Mays says as they climb the stairs, the video shows.

As he and Officer Wong follow Mr. Mickles down a narrow, nearly empty platform, they ask him repeatedly to drop the knife, which he appears to have in his right hand. He is combative, telling them to leave him alone while quickening his pace at times as the officers try to keep up. He continues to ignore their repeated commands, saying he will not drop the knife and challenging them more than once to shoot him.

An L train pulls into the elevated station, and Mr. Mickles backs away from the officers and onto one of the cars. They follow him and demand again that he drop the knife as several passengers look on. When he continues to refuse, they fire their Tasers. The devices fail to subdue him, and he leaves the car onto the platform while pulling Taser prongs out of his shirt.

The footage shows Mr. Mickles rushing down the platform toward Officer Mays before stopping and turning to face Officer Wong. He appears to be standing still when the two officers begin firing, the video shows. Officer Wong fired six shots, and Officer Mays fired three, the video says.

Mr. Mickles stumbles toward an open train car and falls in with the knife still in his hand, the footage shows. Shouts can be heard from people sitting in the car as they run.

“I’m shot, I’m shot,” Officer Mays yells, his gun still extended. He and Officer Wong continue to yell at Mr. Mickles to drop the knife. An officer kicks it away, and another man can be seen picking it up. (The police said they recovered it later.)

Mr. Mickles, who was shot in the stomach, remains hospitalized. On Friday, he was arraigned from his hospital bed on charges that include attempted aggravated assault on a police officer, attempted assault, menacing a police officer, criminal possession of a weapon and theft of services. Mr. Mickles pleaded not guilty and in being held on $200,000 cash bail.

John Chell, the Police Department’s chief of patrol, defended the officers’ actions at a news conference on Wednesday. He said they had followed department guidelines, which allow the use of deadly force when officers believe their lives or the lives of others are in danger.

“We are not perfect, and every situation is not the same,” Chief Chell said. “This is a fast-moving, fast-paced and a stressful situation, and we did the best we could to protect our lives and the lives of the people on that train.”

Mr. Adams, a former police captain, echoed that sentiment in the shooting’s aftermath, saying the officers “should be commended for how they really showed a great level of restraint.”

On Friday, he expressed condolences to the bystanders who had been injured. “No one wants to see innocent people get hurt,” he said.

“While the formal review continues, and out of respect for that process, I will avoid commenting any further,” he added.

Lawyers for Mr. Delpeche’s family said Friday evening that the mayor had not visited Mr. Delpeche in the hospital or spoken with members of the family. One of the lawyers, Keith White, said he had been in touch with the mayor’s chief of staff.

“This is an issue that every New Yorker needs to be concerned with,” another lawyer, Nicholas Liakis, said at the news conference. Today, he continued, “it’s Mr. Delpeche. Tomorrow, it could be you. It could be your child. It could be your husband. It could be your wife.”

Alyce McFadden contributed reporting.

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