Dramatic footage has revealed the moment New York Police Department officers shot and killed a 20-year-old man on a busy Manhattan street after he threatened to carry out a shooting at a hospital.
The incident involving Elijah Brown unfolded on Thursday evening on the Upper East Side, leaving a trail of fear and confusion in its wake.
A Trail of Threats and a Hospital Target
The chain of events began when Brown entered an elevator at a residential building at 1590 Madison Avenue. Surveillance video showed him seemingly without provocation pulling out a firearm and threatening another man, keeping the weapon pointed at him until they reached the first floor.
Brown then proceeded to a corner store at 1600 Madison Avenue near East 107th Street. In a chilling move, he went behind the counter, pointed his gun at a worker, stole his phone, and instructed him: 'Call 911. I'm going down to the hospital to shoot it up.'
True to his word, Brown arrived at Mount Sinai Hospital on the Upper East Side at approximately 7.08pm, where police said he was acting disorderly. He was briefly seen placing his firearm on the ground next to a tree before re-entering the hospital.
Confrontation and Chaos on Madison Avenue
Inside the hospital, Brown encountered an off-duty NYPD officer working a security detail. He informed the officer that he had a gun, leading to a brief struggle. Brown managed to flee the hospital, retrieving his weapon from beside the tree as he left.
He then continued walking down Madison Avenue with the gun in his hand, pursued by at least two police officers. The situation escalated rapidly when Brown spotted the officers.
'He shot at our officers in the middle of a busy sidewalk,' stated NYPD chief of patrol Philip Rivera at a press conference, emphasising that civilians were in close proximity. Multiple people had just stepped off an MTA bus when Brown opened fire, prompting police to return fire.
Aftermath and Official Response
Elijah Brown was pronounced dead at the hospital. Authorities confirmed they recovered his firearm at the scene. The entire shoot-out was captured on both surveillance video and body-worn cameras.
Reflecting on the dangerous incident, Chief Rivera noted, 'The situation could have turned out differently... Every day, our officers put on their uniforms, and they encounter dangerous situations across this city. But it's another kind of danger when someone goes into a deli and a hospital with a gun and opens fire directly at the NYPD.'
In a tragic postscript, Brown's family expressed their confusion. A cousin who had seen him hours before the incident told ABC7, 'He had the phone propped up on the counter, they were on the phone laughing, that's why I don't understand.' The NYPD confirmed to the Daily Mail that Brown had no prior criminal record.
