The Office of Special Investigations under New York Attorney General Letitia James recently concluded an investigation into the death of Pedro Felix, who was fatally shot by an NYPD officer in Queens on July 4, 2024.

Felix's death occurred after police responded to a 911 call about an assault involving a knife, upon their arrival at the scene they found Felix in a struggle with another man, wielding a knife; despite being ordered to drop the knife, Felix did not comply, which led to an officer shooting Felix, Felix was subsequently pronounced dead at a local hospital, during this event two knives were recovered at the scene, also found was an 8-year-old child with stab wounds who later died at the hospital and two additional stabbing victims were discharged after treatment, the Attorney General's office reported.

In their report, OSI outlined the legal framework governing the use of deadly physical force by police officers, stipulating that such force may be justified when an officer has a reasonable belief that it is necessary to protect against the imminent threat of deadly physical force by another person. According to OSI's analysis, the officer involved in the shooting of Felix acted within this legal allowance, given the immediate threat Felix posed.

"Under these circumstances, given the law and the evidence, a prosecutor would not be able to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt at trial that the officer’s use of deadly physical force against Mr. Felix was justified, and therefore OSI determined that criminal charges would not be pursued in this matter," the report concluded, as detailed by the Attorney General's office.