Harrowing body-camera video shows the moment NYPD officers fatally shot a cleaver-wielding man inside his Manhattan apartment building after he allegedly slashed his elderly father in the head.
The footage, released Friday by New York Attorney General Letitia James, shows officers entering Wei Chan’s home on Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side on Aug. 16. Moments later, they spotted a trail of blood leading up the staircase.
“Hey, what’s going on? Show me your hands. Show me your hands,” one officer says as three others follow him upstairs.
Chan, 54, appeared to respond with incoherent shouting while ignoring repeated orders to drop the blade.
“He’s got a knife, he’s got a knife,” another officer warned as at least two officers drew their firearms.
Chan then moved down the stairs toward the officers while holding the large knife. Police opened fire, sending a barrage of shots echoing through the stairwell.
“Pop, pop, pop,” one officer said before several officers began firing.
The armed man fell down the stairs and collapsed on the stairwell landing.
EMS workers performed CPR before Chan was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
His 75-year-old father, Chung Chan, was found on the building’s second floor with a cut to his head. Investigators determined that his son had slashed him.
Chung Chan was also transported to Bellevue Hospital and was listed in stable condition.
Wei Chan had no known prior criminal history with the NYPD, but police said he had a documented history of mental health issues.