Mayor Adams defends officers in subway platform shooting

Brownsville, Brooklyn (PIX11) — Mayor Eric Adams is commending the officers who opened fire on a subway platform over the weekend– striking not only a suspect but two civilians and a fellow officer.

The incident has raised questions about how and when officers should use deadly force.

“I think those officers should be commended for the great level of restraint,” said Adams Tuesday. “It’s unfortunate people were shot, but they were shot because there was a dangerous repeat offender on our subway system.”

Adams doggedly defended not just the two officers who opened fire Sunday Afternoon on the elevated subway platform in Brownsville along the L-line– but also the policing policies that led up to the shooting.

The patrolmen had approached a suspect after he didn’t pay the fare. This tactic has been a focus for the Mayor in his attempt to beat back subway crime. According to police, the man being pursued said he would kill the cops if they did not stop following him.

He eventually got onto a subway car where officers deployed their tasers, which didn’t stop him. The NYPD said that the 37-year-old suspect went back onto the platform before brandishing this knife and charging the officers.

The two cops opened fire striking not just the suspect, but two civilians and a fellow officer.

“I saw the [body camera] video,” Adams said. “I saw the steps those police officers implemented over and over again trying to reason with the perpetrator.”

The Mayor was repeatedly asked Tuesday why he would not release the video– and insisted he had to balance legal questions and concerns it could set off public unrest.

However, the actions of the officers and the Mayor’s defense of them are already being called into question by some including Comptroller Brad Lander, a longtime advocate of reforming the NYPD, running for the Mayor’s job.

He said the subway shooting is a symptom of bigger problems at the department under Mayor Adams.

“I do think it’s connected to the broader chaos at the NYPD when there is no accountability for brass at the top when there’s not clarity that leadership matters, and that there will be accountability,” Lander said.

The Mayor dismissed all criticism from Lander as politically motivated.

The NYPD is still seeking a suspect who somehow ran off with a knife following this whole subway incident.

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