New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office has released body-worn camera footage from the fatal police shooting of Wei Chan, a Lower East Side man who died in August after NYPD officers shot him on a Ludlow Street staircase. The footage comes from the ongoing investigation into Chan’s death and marks the latest instance of James’ office making camera recordings public during active officer-involved death cases.
According to the New York Attorney General’s Office, Chan died on August 16, 2026, following an encounter with NYPD officers in Manhattan. Officers had responded to a Ludlow Street building after a 911 call reporting an assault, and as they walked up the staircase, they saw Chan, who was allegedly holding a cleaver, the office said.
Per the Attorney General’s account, officers ordered Chan to show his hands and drop the cleaver, but he did not comply, and officers then fired their weapons, striking him. Chan was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, and officers recovered a cleaver at the scene, the office said.
What the Daily News Reported About the Shots Fired
A separate report from the New York Daily News, citing police sources, said three officers fired nine shots total during the encounter. That shot count has not been independently confirmed by the Attorney General’s office in its public account of the incident.
The Attorney General’s office was careful to frame the footage release as a transparency measure rather than a legal conclusion. The office said the release is not an expression of any opinion as to the guilt or innocence of any party, nor does it indicate whether anyone will face criminal charges. The investigation into Chan’s death remains ongoing, according to the same office.
Why the Footage Was Released
The release follows a directive from James ordering the public release of camera recordings obtained during these types of investigations, with the stated goal of increasing transparency and strengthening public trust in how officer-involved deaths are examined. The office also cautioned that viewers may find the recordings disturbing.
Jurisdiction over the case falls to the Office of Special Investigation, which obtained the recordings as part of its inquiry. Under New York Executive Law Section 70-b, OSI is tasked with assessing reported deaths potentially caused by the action or inaction of a police or peace officer, and it conducts a full investigation whenever its assessment indicates an officer may have caused a death, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
That jurisdiction applies regardless of whether an officer was on or off duty, whether the person who died was armed or unarmed, or whether they were in custody or incarcerated at the time, and it extends to cases involving corrections officers as well as police. As of now, no findings from the OSI investigation into Chan’s death have been announced, and the case remains open, as first detailed in a report from Fingerlakes1.com.
