Police shot and wounded an unarmed man in Brooklyn Monday night after he rushed at cops and pulled his hand from his waistband — refusing commands to show his hands, NYPD officials said.
The man, identified by sources as 35-year-old Curtis McGarrell, was hit in the leg and taken to Kings County Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Chief of Department Terence Monahan said during a briefing at the shooting scene in Prospect Lefferts Gardens.
“We have excellent body-worn camera footage of the incident,” Monahan said.
“Officers gave commands for the individual to back up and to show his hand,” the chief said.
“We then see the man rush towards our officers while reaching into his waistband and quickly removing his hand.”
“At this point, one officer discharged his firearm two times,” he said.
The shooting came after cops responded to reports of a man with a gun at Lenox Street and Bedford Avenue around 5:45 p.m., police said.
When cops got to the scene they spotted a 60-year-old man holding a handgun and took him into custody, police said.
The man, identified by sources as Viatamere Francois, was being arrested when McGarrell came up on the cops, Monahan said.
“He’s comin’,” Francois yelled. “He gonna blast me!”
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That’s when police wounded McGarrell.
Francois was arrested and charged with illegal weapons possession. Cops recovered a gun at the scene.
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Monahan said the investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
However, the incident rattled those in the neighborhood.
“I heard gunshots from inside my house,” a 71-year-old neighbor who would only give her name as Merile, told The Post. “That’s terrible.”
Joseph Sinbad was passing through the neighborhood when the shots.
“I’m scared,” said Sinbad, 57. “I have to try to get out of that area. I don’t want to stay in the area. There’s too much stuff. I’m not accustomed to that.”
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Local resident Chinelo DeBrady, 26, called the shooting “unfortunate.”
“It’s kind of just the reality of living in a low-SES (socio-economic status) community,” he said. “It happens. It’s unfortunate.”