I say tragedy because in this footage an officer is killed by friendly fire while wrestling with an armed thug. This will not be the usual kind of BCT episode, no glorification of an animal being rightfully put down, although this did happen. But rather because a police officer who was trying to keep our communities safe lost his life, and he lost it to “friendly fire.”
NYPD releases bodycam video of confrontation that left officer dead by friendly fire
NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Police bodycam footage from a deadly friendly fire incident in September shows NYPD officers struggling with an armed man outside a Bronx housing project before shots rang out and an officer was killed.
The footage, which was released by the NYPD Friday, shows 33-year-old Officer Brian Mulkeen grappling with the suspect, 27-year-old Antonio Williams, and shouting frantically moments before his death.
“He’s reaching for it! He’s reaching for it!” Mulkeen can be heard saying in the newly released footage. A barrage of gunshots are then heard as Mulkeen continues to scuffle with Williams.
Police said six plainclothes officers fired 15 rounds during the early morning confrontation at the Edenwald Houses on Sept. 29.
Here it is. 6:23 is where the tragedy happens and again at 13:06 . . .
The altercation left Mulkeen, a seven-year veteran of the force, and Williams, a convicted felon who was on probation for a drug arrest, dead.
Mulkeen was shot twice by other officers—once in the head and once in the torso, according to police.
The suspect’s loaded .32 caliber handgun was recovered at the scene, police said, adding that the gun had not been fired.
That it had not been fired does not surprise me. Look at this piece of crap and the ammo he had. He probably DID try to fire it but when it failed, reached for the officer’s weapon.
“Make no mistake, we lost the life of a courageous public servant solely due to a violent criminal who put the lives of the police and all the people we serve in jeopardy,” NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill said at the time.
Mulkeen’s death echoed that of Detective Brian Simonsen, who was killed by friendly fire in February.
Simonsen was hit once in the chest by crossfire as he and six other officers fired 42 shots at a robbery suspect who charged toward them and mimicked pulling the trigger of a fake handgun.
In more than 6½ years with the NYPD, Mulkeen made 270 arrests — many of them for felonies, including possession of illegal guns.
Mulkeen, who lived in Yorktown Heights with his girlfriend, an officer in a different Bronx precinct, started his law enforcement career as a dispatcher for the police department in Tuxedo, a town near Monroe. He joined the NYPD in January 2013.
And in another article dated October 11th, before this body cam was released, the family says . . .
But while not having answers to how events unfolded has been hard, they are also struggling with the public portrayal of their son. They said the descriptions of their son as a “soulless individual” and a “reputed gangbanger” by the police union and the NY Post do not match what they know of Antonio, whom they describe as a cherished member of a large, close-knit family.
Dehumanized my son — that’s what they’ve done,” Shawn Williams said of news reports and the information put out by the police department. “Anything negative, they have attached it to his name.”
Yeah, well sorry. Not sorry. He was an animal. “He first ran afoul of the law in 2011 with a burglary rap in Rockland County’s Haverstraw, sources said. Williams was convicted in the case, and public records show he was sentenced to up to 42 months behind bars.
He was paroled in 2015, but it didn’t take long for Williams to fall back into his old habits.
Last year, Williams was pinched on a drug charge in upstate Endicott, landing him on probation that wasn’t set to expire until 2022, according to law enforcement sources.
But just last month, he caught a harassment case in Binghamton for which he had a court date later this week, sources said.
Williams had an open warrant on another drug possession case out of Hudson when Mulkeen was killed, sources added.”
And then there’s what he did that finally ended his life. “Williams, a .32-caliber revolver in his hand, took off running, setting off the deadly pursuit, sources said. Mulkeen tackled and disarmed Williams, who in turn launched a struggle for the cop’s service Glock that ended with both men fatally shot, police and sources said.”
No one’s dehumanizing your son, jackasses. They’re just reciting the criminal history he made for himself. Now just kick back, eat some more Twinkies and take your shot at the ghetto lotto.
Because this asshole Williams didn’t want to earn an honest living, and instead chose a life of crime, HE is not only dead, but so is a police officer.
This is just so sad. My opinion? It’s one time the police shouldn’t have fired. Not because I didn’t want to see this thug die, but it wasn’t a safe shot. Why couldn’t they have joined in the melee and subdued this criminal animal instead? That COULD have been a feasible shot, but the officers had to know their limitations. Look:
I believe some of us here could make that shot.
As noted above, “Police said six plainclothes officers fired 15 rounds.” That was NOT a situation where multiple rounds should have been fired rapidly. Just one placed cleanly . . . be that as it may, I still say they should have just jumped the thug and beat the crap out of him. Or even run up and executed him.
Yes, I wasn’t there and I have the benefit of hindsight. But I was once in a situation almost exactly like this and chose to punch the thug in the back of the neck to get him off my brother. I had two guns on me. I could have shot him. Didn’t. Once I did that, several “friends” came running and beat the thug unconscious.
In the end, Williams played his game, and to him I’m sure this was all just a game for his pathetic ass, ran from cops, got killed by cops, and regardless of the cop’s actions, it was because of WILLIAMS that a law officer is dead.
My condolences to William’s family and friends. At least he died a hero.
