SandyMaloneBronx, NY – Police have released the bodycam footage from two New York Police Department (NYPD) officers who shot of a knife-wielding man in January (video below).
Police said that Michael Hansford, 52, tried to stab his landlord with a box cutter after he was served with an eviction notice on Jan. 29, the New York Post reported.
Another man pulled Hansford off his landlord, but he escaped.
Then Hansford chased his landlord down the street with a “military-style knife”, according to WNBC.
Responding officers encountered the two men during that chase, and intervened.
NYPD released a video on Thursday that included footage from the bodycams of both officers who were involved in the shooting. The officers have been on the department for two and three years, respectively.
In the video, one officer tells Hansford to put his hands up several times.
Then both officers can be heard repeatedly yelling at Hansford to “Drop the Knife!”
Hansford can be heard repeatedly yelling “Shoot me! Just shoot me!”
Throughout the video, Hansford appeared to be attempting to approach the officers, as they worked to position themselves out of his path.
The video showed the officers opened fire when Hansford lunged at them, after about 15 seconds of ordering the man to drop the knife.
The man did not drop his knife, and continued to advance on officers until they shot him, the video showed.
Hansford was pronounced dead at St. Barnabas Hospital, according to WPIX.
After the incident occurred, Hansford’s neighbors were quick to demand that NYPD produce the bodycam footage of the shooting.
Critics have said officers should have used less-lethal methods, such as a Taser, to disarm the obviously disturbed suspect.
“You can know that’s a guy that’s not mentally there,” neighbor Raphael Rodriguez told WNBC.
“They could have tased him, or brought him down like that. Or shot him in the leg,” Rodriguez said.
NYPD’s Chief of Patrol Rodney Harrison was quick to defend the officers after the incident, and said at a press conference that “the officers were doing their duty,” according to WNBC.
Watch video of the officer-involved shooting below: