An investigation by the New York attorney general’s office has cleared NYPD officers in the killing last year of a mentally disturbed man police said was wielding a piece of pipe that looked like a gun.
A report released Friday found that the officers were “legally justified” in the shooting of Saheed Vassell. The man’s father has said his son had been hospitalized several times for psychiatric problems.
Police responding to reports of an armed man roaming the streets of Brooklyn fired 10 shots at the 34-year-old victim. It turned out he was only carrying an L-shaped section of pipe.
The killing sparked unrest by people saying it was another example of an unarmed black man dying at the hands of police officers.
