Dad: Probe slay by cops
The father of a mentally ill man shot dead last year by cops who mistook a piece of pipe he was brandishing as a gun appealed to state Attorney General Letitia James Wednesday to launch an investigation.
Eric Vassell, whose son Saheed Vassell, 34, was killed on a Brooklyn street April 4, urged James to intervene since none of the four officers involved have been indicted or placed on modified duty.
“We are here hoping that justice will be served,” Vassell said after the meeting. “We don’t know what decision they will make. Whatever decision they will make we have to live with it. She didn’t make any promises.”
He said James vowed to make a decision before the one-year anniversary of his son’s death.
A representative for James did not respond to a request for comment.
In 2015, Gov. Cuomo issued an executive order empowering the attorney general to operate as a special prosecutor in police-involved shootings.
Cops were responding to a 911 call reporting a man with a gun when they encountered Vassell, a bipolar welder, on the corner of Utica Ave. and Montgomery St. in Crown Heights.
Officials said four cops opened fire on Vassell after he turned and pointed the pipe in their direction.
Vassell’s family and neighborhood activists decried the shooting.
“Not only have departmental charges not been filed, but also none of the police who have been involved in this have been put on modified duty,” said Anthonine Pierre of the Brooklyn Movement Center. “They’re still walking the same streets where they killed Saheed. We would like to see accountability from the mayor.”
The family has filed a suit against the NYPD, seeking $25 million.