NY AG's Office releases body cam video of fatal police-involved shooting in Bay Shore

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The New York Attorney General's Office has released body cam footage of a fatal police-involved shooting in Bay Shore. The video shows a man identified by investigators as Taiquell Woodson attacking an officer with a knife and baton at a home on Udall Road in February. A second officer uses a Taser and a third then fires his gun. At least nine shots can be heard. Woodson was killed and one of the officers was stabbed multiple times in the arm. Police said at the time of the incident that the officer was saved by his bulletproof vest. Officers were responding to a domestic incident. The video was released as part of an investigation, which is still pending. Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine said in a statement, “The decision by NYS Attorney General Tish James to release the video of this disturbing incident shows that the actions taken by our police officers was more than justified. The only reason we did not lose this officer is due to his protective vest and training. I’m proud to support our men and women in law enforcement who are keeping Suffolk County a safer place to live.” Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association President Lou Civello agreed. “The body camera footage released by the Attorney General confirms what we knew all along, this was a violent criminal intent on killing a Suffolk County Police Officer. The police officer's actions were completely justified. Had they not taken action our officer would have been murdered in cold blood,” said Civello in a statement. Civil rights attorney Frederick Brewington says the use of force may have been necessary, but the amount of force used should at least be questioned. "The question of when the force that was used becomes unreasonable and excessive becomes the question and that's important because there's a difference between two shots and eight or nine shots,” said Brewington. The body camera video was leaked to the public earlier this year. Suffolk police said its Internal Affairs Bureau was looking into that, but told News 12 Friday that there is no update. "