Wild footage captured the moment NYPD officers killed a crazed gunman on the streets of New York after he threatened to shoot up a hospital.
Elijah Brown, 20, was shot down Thursday evening on Manhattan’s Upper East Side after telling a corner store worker that he was planning a shooting and telling an off–duty cop that he had a gun.
‘The situation could have turned out differently,’ NYPD chief of patrol Philip Rivera said at a press conference.
‘An individual walked into multiple locations with a gun, and menaced multiple people with that gun.’
Rivera said Brown then ‘shot at our officers in the middle of a busy sidewalk’ when confronted, ‘with civilians in close proximity.’
The fatal shooting unfolded around 7pm on Thursday, and the shocking shoot-out was captured on surveillance video and body–worn cameras, police said.
The stunning footage showed Brown calmly walking down Madison Avenue with the weapon in his hand while being pursued by at least two police officers.
After spotting them, he turned and opened fire on the officers, who shot back.
Multiple civilians had just stepped off an MTA bus when Brown started shooting, Rivera said.
Surveillance footage captured the moment Brown turned his gun on New York Police Department officers
Cops said Brown appeared calm before the shoot-out, and he was first seen inside an elevator at 1590 Madison Avenue, talking to a man.
Suddenly – ‘seemingly without provocation’ – Brown was then seen pulling out his gun and threatening the bystander with it.
He kept the weapon pointed at the man until reaching the first floor of the building, which he then left to go to a corner store located at 1600 Madison Avenue near East 107th Street.
Brown then went behind the counter and pointed his gun at a worker, stealing his phone and allegedly telling him: ‘Call 911. I’m going down to the hospital to shoot it up.’
At around 7.08pm, Brown went to the Mount Sinai Hospital on the Upper East Side, where police said he was ‘acting disorderly.’
Rivera explained: ‘He is briefly inside Mount Sinai before he exits back onto the sidewalk, and is seen placing a firearm on the ground next to a tree.
‘He then re–enters Mount Sinai Hospital, where he encounters an off–duty member of the service, who is working a paid detail security post at the hospital.’
The New York Police Department recovered Brown’s gun following Thursday’s shooting in Manhattan
Brown threatened a corner store worker with his gun and told him: ‘Call 911. I’m going down to the hospital to shoot it up’
Brown told the NYPD cop that he had a gun, leading to a ‘brief struggle’ in which the 20–year–old was able to flee the hospital as the off–duty officer attempted to contain him.
As the gunman left, he recovered his weapon from beside the tree and continued walking down Madison Avenue, police said.
When officers found Brown between 95th and 96th Street, he ‘immediately’ started shooting at them – prompting police to return fire.
Brown was pronounced dead at the hospital.
‘Every day, our officers put on their uniforms, and they encounter dangerous situations across this city,’ Rivera said.
‘But it’s another kind of danger when someone goes into a deli and a hospital with a gun and opens fire directly at the NYPD.’
The NYPD told the Daily Mail on Friday that Brown had no prior criminal record.
Philip Rivera, the NYPD chief of patrol, said the shooting ‘could have turned out differently’ after Brown opened fire ‘in the middle of a busy sidewalk’
Brown was initially seen inside an elevator at a 1590 Madison Avenue residential building, where he threatened a man with his firearm
Brown’s cousin called the fatal shooting ‘still confusing’ in comments to ABC7.
He had seen his cousin hours before the deadly incident.
‘He had the phone propped up on the counter, they were on the phone laughing, that’s why I don’t understand,’ the unidentified family member told the outlet.
