An off-duty NYPD officer shot and killed a man brandishing what was later identified as a BB gun on Staten Island, officials reported yesterday. The incident occurred after locals near Andrews Diner off Hylan Boulevard alerted authorities to a man with a gun. According to the NYPD, the event started to unfold just past 8 p.m. when calls came in about a man wielding a firearm behind the diner. Soon after, two off-duty officers encountered 44-year-old Jesse Campbell a block away on William Avenue, as informed by Assistant Chief Melissa Eger at a press conference and corroborated in Gothamist.
The officers, upon sighting Campbell, who has a criminal history in New York, identified themselves and commanded him to drop the weapon. Chief Eger described the confrontation during a briefing saying, "The officers gave multiple verbal commands for the male to remove his hands from the firearm and to put the firearm down." But when Campbell instead pointed the gun at the officers, one of them discharged their firearm. These details were supplemented by CBS New York's report, which indicated that Campbell was shot multiple times, according to the NYPD.
Efforts to revive Campbell were made by the off-duty officers until emergency services arrived, at which point he was transported to Staten Island University Hospital North. There, he was pronounced dead. The authorities later verified the weapon as an imitation firearm. Assistant Chief Eger addressed the situation, noting, "Our officers were confronted with a dangerous and unpredictable situation, and they attempted to deescalate the situation multiple times," as obtained by CBS New York.
The NYPD's Force Investigation Division is reviewing the shooting, which was also captured on surveillance video. Eger emphasized the unpredictability of the scenario faced by the officers and remarked that the video is currently under analysis. Neither of the officers' identities has been released, and the investigation into this fatal shooting is ongoing.
