Bodycam Shows Fatal Police Shooting on Lower East Side
The video shows officers entering an apartment building on Ludlow Street after responding to an assault call. As they move upstairs, they encounter Chan, who is holding a cleaver. Officers tell him to show his hands and drop the weapon, but he does not comply, authorities said. The footage captures Chan moving toward officers before they fire.
Chan fell on the stairwell landing. Emergency medical workers performed CPR and took him to Bellevue Hospital, where he died. The video release was part of New York state’s review process for fatal encounters involving law enforcement.
Chan’s 75-year-old father, Chung Chan, was found on the second floor with a cut to his head. Authorities said his son had slashed him. He was taken to Bellevue and was in stable condition.
Police said New York police records showed no earlier criminal cases for Chan, although he had a known history of mental health concerns. Authorities have not announced findings about the shooting.
Fatal Shooting Video Puts Police Use of Force Under Review
The newly released video shows officers entering a Ludlow Street apartment building after an assault call and confronting Wei Chan, 54, with a cleaver. Officers order him to drop it. The footage shows Chan moving toward them before they shoot him.
The shooting raises the central question in any fatal police encounter: whether the use of deadly force was justified. New York’s review process is examining the incident, but authorities have not announced findings. The video itself shows the encounter; it does not resolve the review.
Chan died after being taken to Bellevue Hospital. His 75-year-old father was found upstairs with a head laceration that authorities said Chan inflicted, and was listed in stable condition.
Police said Chan had no earlier criminal cases recorded by the NYPD and that mental health concerns were documented in his history. The facts make the state’s scrutiny of this deadly encounter especially consequential, while the review’s conclusions remain pending.
Officers Faced Cleaver-Wielding Man Before Fatal Shooting
The video shows officers answering an assault call at a Ludlow Street building and climbing a stairwell where blood led toward Chan, 54. They repeatedly ordered him to drop the cleaver. Authorities said he refused and charged at the officers; the footage shows him moving toward them before they open fire.
Chan was taken to Bellevue Hospital and died. His father, 75, had a head wound authorities said was inflicted by Chan and was listed in stable condition.
The footage documents the danger officers encountered inside the building, where Chan was armed and closing distance after commands to put down the weapon. The state’s review of the fatal encounter is ongoing, and authorities have not announced findings.
Police said records showed mental health concerns in Chan’s history, while he had no earlier criminal cases involving the NYPD. The video release, made through the state review process, makes the sequence of the encounter public as officials continue their examination.
Reported by New York Post, ABC7 New York.
