New York police shoot and kill man wielding knife on Brooklyn Bridge

Sept. 4 (UPI) -- New York City police shot and killed a man on the Brooklyn Bridge Friday morning after he threatened police with a knife.

Police responded to a call made at 3:28 a.m. EDT reporting that a man was walking on the beams of the bridge. Police climbed onto the bridge using safety harnesses, said Assistant Chief Gerald Dowling, commanding officer of the NYPD emergency services unit.

The man told police that he had a bomb and wanted to die. There was a standoff for about an hour, and then the man began to descend toward the officers clipped on the same cable below him. Police were unable to get away from him fast enough, Dowling said.

When the man was within three feet of an officer, he extended a knife toward the officer. An officer fired and hit the man, who was then brought down from the cables and given first aid. The man was pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital.

Two law enforcement sources identified the man as Chaun Bottom, NBC 4 New York reported .

Mayor Zohran Mamdani posted on X : "Based on preliminary information, officers worked to de-escalate the situation for approximately an hour and urged the man not to jump. The man was holding a knife and threatened the officers. He eventually moved toward the officers, coming within close proximity to a number of responding officers. One responding officer discharged his weapon and struck the man."

"As is standard when an NYPD officer discharges a firearm, the department will conduct an internal investigation, and body-worn camera footage will be released," Mamdani said.

On Monday, NYPD officers shot and killed Pamela Cisneros, 49, of Queens, in Times Square after she fatally stabbed a 68-year-old man and injured another.