This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/16/nyregion/police-shooting-brooklyn.html

The article has changed 11 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 5 Version 6
Just Out of Prison, Brooklyn Gunman Is Killed by Officers, Police Say Just Out of Prison, Brooklyn Gunman Is Killed by Officers, Police Say
(about 1 hour later)
Nasheem Prioleau had just been released from prison last week after serving a five-year sentence for robbery, the police said. Life for Nasheem Prioleau had become a series of long periods behind bars, punctuated with short bursts of freedom. He had just been released from prison on parole last week after serving a five-year sentence for robbery.
On Tuesday night, around 8 p.m., he was walking through the Gowanus Houses public housing complex, on the edge of the brownstone Brooklyn neighborhood of Boerum Hill. It did not take him long to return to his old ways, the police said. On Tuesday night, around 8 p.m., he was walking through the Gowanus Houses, on the edge of the brownstone Brooklyn neighborhood of Boerum Hill. And, the police said, he had a gun.
That was when, the police said, a pair of plainclothes officers who had been driving in an unmarked car by Baltic and Hoyt Streets saw Mr. Prioleau, 30, shoot at another person. A pair of plainclothes officers who had been patrolling in an unmarked car said they saw Mr. Prioleau, 30, shooting at another person near the intersection of Baltic and Hoyt streets. They leaped from the car and ordered Mr. Prioleau to drop his weapon.
What happened next unfolded quickly, and the police were still piecing it together on Wednesday morning. What happened next unfolded in seconds, and the police were still piecing it together on Wednesday morning.
Terence A. Monahan, the Police Department’s chief of department said at a news conference late Tuesday that the officers “immediately identified themselves as police, and gave multiple orders to drop the weapon.” The two officers opened fire and dozens of rounds shattered the autumn night. When it was over, Mr. Prioleau lay mortally wounded, a 9-millimeter pistol near him, and the person he had apparently targeted had fled.
The shooter, he said, did not comply. Chief Terence A. Monahan, the Police Department’s highest ranking uniformed officer, said the officers, whom he did not name, “immediately identified themselves as police and gave multiple orders to drop the weapon.”
Then, according to Chief Monahan, “both officers fired numerous rounds” at the man, later identified as Mr. Prioleau. He was struck several times and taken to Brooklyn Hospital Center, where he died, the police said. Mr. Prioleau not only did not comply, but pointed his pistol at them, the chief said.
The police did not identify the officers involved in the shooting. They were part of an anti-crime unit, which are aggressive teams in civilian clothes with unmarked cars that focus making gun arrests and often respond to reports of shots fired. They were not hurt. “The perpetrator was discharging his gun at somebody else,” Chief Monahan said. “The cops happen to be there when he did it. So he turned his gun on them.”
A 9-millimeter handgun and shell casing were recovered at the scene near the gunman, Chief Monahan said, adding that the officers involved in the shooting would need to be interviewed to determine whether the man had fired at them. It remained unclear if Mr. Prioleau fired his weapon at the officers.
Chief Monahan said that the gunman had “an extensive criminal history, including multiple violent felony convictions,” the chief said. The officers were members of an anti-crime unit, which are elite, aggressive teams in civilian clothes and unmarked cars whose main mission is taking guns out of the hands of criminals. Often, they respond to reports of people armed with a gun, or sounds of gunfire.
It is dangerous work. Last month, an anti-crime police officer in the Bronx, Brian Mulkeen, 33, wrestled to the ground a man who was armed with a gun. As they struggled, other officers on the scene opened fire, killing Mr. Mulkeen and the other man.
Chief Monahan said the gunman, later identified as Mr. Priouleau, had “an extensive criminal history, including multiple violent felony convictions.”
State records show that in 2008, Mr. Priouleau went to prison for a felony weapons possession charge, and was released in August 2010. By 2011, he was in prison again on an attempted assault charge.
In October 2013, he was released. Then in December 2014 — about two weeks after his 26th birthday — he was incarcerated again; this time, for attempted robbery.
The police were still looking for the second man involved in the initial shooting, officials said.The police were still looking for the second man involved in the initial shooting, officials said.
At about 10 p.m., before Chief Monahan addressed reporters, a stretch of Baltic Street with the housing complex buildings on either side was blocked off by police tape and vehicles, as officers flooded the block and helicopters buzzed overhead.At about 10 p.m., before Chief Monahan addressed reporters, a stretch of Baltic Street with the housing complex buildings on either side was blocked off by police tape and vehicles, as officers flooded the block and helicopters buzzed overhead.
Elvis Peguero, the owner of the Los Tios Deli Grocery on Hoyt Street, said he had heard “a lot of shots” — as many as 20, he guessed — just before 8 p.m. in what sounded like volleys coming from both sides of Baltic Street. Within minutes, he said, police officers were swarming the area.Elvis Peguero, the owner of the Los Tios Deli Grocery on Hoyt Street, said he had heard “a lot of shots” — as many as 20, he guessed — just before 8 p.m. in what sounded like volleys coming from both sides of Baltic Street. Within minutes, he said, police officers were swarming the area.
Apartment courtyards on either side of Baltic Street were also taped off, and some residents of the complex said they had been locked out of their buildings with no word on when they would be allowed back inside. Apartment courtyards on either side of Baltic Street were also taped off, and some residents of the complex said they had been locked out of their buildings.
Shortly after 10:30 p.m., a line of officers, some in riot gear and some leading police dogs, walked across a courtyard south of Baltic Street facing the shooting site.Shortly after 10:30 p.m., a line of officers, some in riot gear and some leading police dogs, walked across a courtyard south of Baltic Street facing the shooting site.
Shanduke McPhatter, a Brooklyn anti-gang activist, said that it was important to residents of the neighborhood to get a full accounting of the police response and to be assured the police were not “excessively shooting.”Shanduke McPhatter, a Brooklyn anti-gang activist, said that it was important to residents of the neighborhood to get a full accounting of the police response and to be assured the police were not “excessively shooting.”
“We just want to get the facts, and that’s what we’re focused on,” Mr. McPhatter said. “We want to see who fired how many shots.”“We just want to get the facts, and that’s what we’re focused on,” Mr. McPhatter said. “We want to see who fired how many shots.”
Last month, an anti-crime officer on patrol in the Bronx, Brian Mulkeen, was killed by so-called friendly fire while struggling with a man. Mr. Prioleau’s mother, Lashann Tyre, said she spoke to her son on the telephone a short time before the shooting and he had been cracking jokes and talking about a woman he was interested in dating. She said she was skeptical of the police account. “I don’t believe it,” she said. “I can’t see my son shooting at the police.”
Ali Watkins contributed reporting. Ali Watkins and Michael Gold contributed reporting.